Now that I don't do weekly Picks, I wonder how I ever did. That was a lot of work. First of all, July brings to mind a lot of historic events, such as Fred Douglass's speech at an event July 5, 1852, "commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Rochester's Corinthian Hall. It was biting oratory, in which the speaker told his audience, 'This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.' And he asked them, 'Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?'

"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour"  (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2927.html).

Another event which July 1, calls to mind is the solar return celebration of Sister Makinyah Kouyate. This year is the 15th celebration and her 85th year. She gave us the date in turns around the sun, but I'd have to get that statistic and add it later--impressive is putting it lightly.  A modest woman, Sister Makinyah is the daughter of two loving parents whom she honors with this celebration among family and friends. It's great listening to her talk about concert recitals at the Kaiser auditirium, 24 black youth classically trained musicians with African American orchestral leaders. Jonathan Eubanks, photographer's sister, was one of the young women performing there. She spoke about playing the organ for her church, the same church founded by her great-grandmother 100 years ago this July 10--St. Augustin in Oakland. This church was one of the first, or the first African Methodist Episcopal church in the Bay Area.

She spoke about the first black student union at Merritt college, but more about the Black Studies Department, the first in California, next was San Francisco State and then Cal State East Bay and so on. She spoke about those early days and how she hired the teachers and then took their classes to monitor content. Everything was taught from an African centered perspective, so if the psychology course was the same as one would get outside Black Studies the teacher was not rehired.  She spoke of how at the black studies graduates were not recognized for the academic achievement so Sister Makinyah organized the first black graduation. A local church supported the students, painted the church black and the pastor had his children post the fliers around town.

The police accused Sister Makinyah of posting the fliers and took her forcibly to jail. They kicked a fellow organizer, stomped Sister Makinyah's mother, and hit Sister Makinya on the head and broke her receiver. At a City Council meeting before finals and graduation, the the accused brought charges again the police who beat them up. The police were transferred to Utah (a victory for the people!) Ron Dellums was on the Berkeley City Council then. I thought Sister Makinyah and her parties' victory encouraging given the Oscar Grant trial wrapping up now.

Sister Makinyah said if one doesn't know one's history it can be rewritten without your knowledge. 

In Memoriam
July 6, 2010, San Francisco — Stanley E. Williams, the founding Artistic Director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, died on July 2, 2010. He was 60 years old. The entire obituary is at the end of the Picks. I recall Stanley's laughter when I turned and he was seated behind me at the memorial just last month, for his partner Quentin Easter.  I thought Stanley looked frail earlier as he stood between two friends (for physical support) at the podium and said a few words.  Friends told me that he was on the mend, so it was shocking when I read the first email forwarded from South Africa, followed by several others up to today, July 6, 2010. I will miss Stanley and Quentin. I am interested in hearing the plans for Lorraine Hansberry now that its founders are no longer physically with us. The story reminds me of what happened to Edsel Matthews when he lost Koncepts Cultural Gallery. The eviction killed him . . . not right away, but soon after. The artists are the true revolutionaries, yet they are also among the more fragile souls.

On the Fly:
Kim Nalley with special guest Houston Person at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco. They are doing a special 7 PM July 4th concert. Opening night June 30, was an evening of really superb music. Both Person and Nalley, along with a wonderful rhythm section with among the trio, Tammy Hall, made parting a true sorrow. Nalley and Person are also appearing at the San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Festival Sunday, July 4 at 2 PM on the California Street Stage. The outdoor festival is free. Kim mentioned something about her famous fried chicken at the Rrazz Room that evening. Hum one never knows what surprises are in store. Haiti Update at July 10, 4-6 PM at La Pena Cultural Center.  Don't forget the San Francisco AIDS Walk July 18, 2010. Stern Grove Music Festival continues this month every Sunday at 2 PM. The San Francisco Opera is Sunday, July 4 weekend. Visit www.sterngrovemusic.org Richard Bona is in town for one night and Ricardo Lemvo is in town for two. Pete Escovedo is celebrating a birthday with his talented family as well. Visit www.yoshis.com The World Socialist Forum is at the Merriott Hotel Convention Center through this weekend, downtown Oakland. Also, the San Francisco Opera's "Girl of the Golden West" by Giacomo Puccini continues through Friday, July 2, 2010. Visit www.sfopera.com. SF Symphony presents: "Cool Nights. Hot Classics through July 25. Visit www.sfsymphony.org/summer for programming.


“Bridge Builders & Other Unconventional Women” Flyaway Productions’ Arts and Activism Apprenticeship Performance
 
This week is the third annual summer apprenticeship program for girls, where they learn to use art for social change as they discover another tool for truth telling.  Using the metaphor for building bridges girls actually learn what it takes to build one of the many historic bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as how to build bridges across cultural, social and political differences. 

The two shows are Wednesday-Thursday, July 21-22, 2010, 7 p.m. at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street @ 9th, San Francisco. Flyaway is the only youth arts program at the organization which serves as a incubator for artistic creative growth and development.  Tickets are: $6-12 sliding-scale, Youth (14 & under) free. Visit www.counterpulse.org or call 1-800-838-3006. Also visit www.flyawayproductions.com


Third Annual Bikes 4 Life: Bike Ride for Peace & Bike-In Movie Night , Saturday, July 24

The movie feature is: "The Warriors." The bike ride starts at Lake Merritt at Lakeside Park @ Perkins starts at 7:30 p.m.  The movie starts at 8:30 p.m. at Bikes for Life, Bike Shop, 1000 7th Street, Oakland, CA. Call (510) 452-BIKE/452-2453 or visit http://www.bikes4life.com/


FREE Summer Concert Series at Arroyo Park begins Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
 
The Legendary LENNY WILLIAMS and POP LIFE will be performing at Arroyo Viejo Park, 7701 Krause Street in Oakland. The concert begins at 2:00 pm. Bring the family, a good attitude, and get ready to have great time. You don't want to miss this show! See you there. This concert is sponsored by the offices of Council Member Desley Brooks and D'Wayne Wiggins. For more information call 510 238-3971.

4th Annual Frederick Douglass Day/Alternative 4th of July Celebration

Food 6PM, Program 7-10 PM FRIDAY JULY 2nd, Humanist Hall 390 27th Street Oakland 94612 (between Broadway & Telegraph
Here's the lineup:

    Frederick Douglass' speech excerpts rendered by Michael Lange & Ayinde Webb
    John Brown's Truth a musically improvised opera (selected scenes); written by William Crossman
    Frederick Douglass Youth Ensemble
    Vukani Mawethu
    Walter Riley UpDate on Haiti
    UpSurge!
    Vukani Mawethu/UpSurge!/Frederick Douglass Youth Ensemble Collaboration

    $15; Seniors/Students $10; Children $5; Food available for Donation; A portion of proceeds will benefit OPCM, a non-profit, inner-city music conservatory offering affordable classes for children and adults. Wheelchair Accessible; Event info: 510.835.5348  Venue info: 510.451.5818

     Feature and preview from last year: http://www.examiner.com/x-4545-SF-Poetry-Examiner~y2009m7d2-UpSurge-poetry-and-jazz-offers-musical-fireworks-alternative-to-traditional-4th-of-July-celebration

    Comments and some photos from last year's program: http://www.upsurgejazz.com


Musical Tribute
Tubenu Productions presents: The African American Experience through Music (1600-1860s) with the Bryant Bolling Creative Art Ensemble, July 11, 2010 @ 5:00 PM at the First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison Street, Oakland, CA 94612, $20.00. Admission is $20.00. This production acts as a healing for all races in America.


Bloodline

Nicole Klaymoon's Embodiment Project presents “Bloodline” - a street dance theater production that interweaves spoken word, video, and song, Saturday July 10, 2010, at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, in Berkeley. Tickets are: $10 gen. $8 students w/ID – 8 p.m.

If love is what we're all longing for, then why does it feel so difficult to receive? Embodiment Project invites you to witness ten performers use street dance, spoken word, video, theater, and song, unearthing the most intimate workings of their hearts, in an attempt to better understand our shared emotional reality. Drawing from love in all its forms - familial, romantic, esoteric, and abstract - "Bloodline" fuses process and performance highlighting the symbiotic nature of vulnerability and self-empowerment. "Bloodline" is the manifestation of the belief that self-healing is the most important step towards social change and a shift in global consciousness. The San Francisco Silent

Film Festival July 15-18
Visit http://www.silentfilm.org/index.php

Haiti Report Back

Also on Saturday, July 10, 4-6 PM at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, in Berkeley is a Haiti Report Back and Update presented by the Haiti Action Committee, Saturday July 10, 2010. A donation of $7-$20 sliding scale is appreciated although no one is turned away for lack of funds. Haiti Action Committee presents eyewitness reports from the earthquake zone, with photos & video, on the work of grassroots organizations, their growing mobilizations for democracy, participation in relief efforts, and the return of former President Aristide.


Art Exhibit Reception

Here's Looking at You: A Visual Essay of Jazz and Blues
featuring the Jazz and Blues Art of James Gayles, photographers of artists: TaSin Sabir, Edward Miller, Charles Rhone, James Knox, Isabel Green and Frank Davidson

The exhibit is up July 1 through July 31, 2010 at the San Leandro Public Library, 300 Estudillo Avenue, San Leandro, CA, with a reception Thursday, July 15, 2010, 6:30-8:30 PM For information contact the curator, Kamau Amen Ra at: (510) 654-7308. The library is open Monday-Thursday, 10 AM to 9 PM and Friday-Sunday: 10 AM to 5:30, 10 AM to 5:00 and 12 noon to 4 PM respectively.


Menlo Park celebrated its 24th Annual Midsummer Festival of the Arts, July 17-18

It's summertime and the Bay Area's popular outdoor festival season is in full swing. People are looking for more affordable leisure options making the festival circuit more appealing than ever. For a sun-splashed weekend featuring world-class art by 250 of America's top artists, two days of great music, informative chefs' demos, fabulous food and drink, tons of fun for kids, artisan specialty food purveyors, a new collector car show, home and garden exhibits, health and wellness displays and an organic and green products showcase, head to downtown Menlo Park for the 24th Annual Connoisseurs' Marketplace, July 17-18.  Stroll down charming, tree-lined Santa Cruz Avenue and experience an authentic feast for the senses. Presented by the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce, large crowds are expected to pour onto the downtown streets for this vibrant celebration of visual, performing and culinary arts. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. Admission is free.

The best of the Bay Area music scene comes to Menlo Park with ten dynamite bands playing an eclectic, fun-filled mix of soulful Motown classics, classic rock 'n roll, R&B groove, contemporary jazz, Caribbean steel drum and romantic Italian mandolin ballads on stage and street. The free "Saturday After-Hours Concert" will feature Pride & Joy, the Bay Area's pre-eminent party band known for their popular Motown hits, trademark great voices, sweet harmonies, matching flashy outfits, and slick dance moves, from 5:30-8 p.m. in Fremont Park.

The action-packed Kids' Fun Zone will fascinate youths with endless amusements. Create-your-own colorful wax hands art, virtual reality motion theater, super cool temporary tattoos, whimsical sand sculptures, balloon artists, clowns, inflatable bounces, carnival and train rides, a 24-foot climbing wall and a new interactive art area are among the exciting attractions.

After a four year hiatus, the Chefs' Demo tent is back! Always a popular festival attraction, chefs from top local restaurants prepare dishes that reflect their imagination and style, while offering festival goers delicious samples and recipes written for the home chef. Also new this year is a collector car showcase, featuring a special display of world-class automobiles, presented by AutoVino.

The festival runs July 17-18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Santa Cruz Avenue from El Camino Real to Johnson Street in Menlo Park. Admission and parking are free. For festival information, call 650-325-2818 or visit www.miramarevents.com

The "Saturday After-Hours Concert" featuring Pride & Joy runs from 5:30-8 p.m. on July 17 in Fremont Park, is on Santa Cruz Avenue between El Camino Real and Johnson Street in Menlo Park CA
Info-Line: 650-325-2818 or http://www.miramarevents.com

Mia Pascal featured in Words First at CounterPULSE

If you missed the Marsh Festival of New Voices, then here is an opportunity to see excerpts from Mia Pascal’s latest work: "The Slaughterhouse Trapeze" as part of  Words First at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission St @ 9th Street, San Francisco, (two blocks from SF Civic Center BART), Wednesday, July 7th.  The performance begins at 7:30 pm; and three other excellent performers Mia says on the program: Ericka Lutz, Deirdre Kennedy, and David Jacobson. Also, if you order tickets online, check out the discount codes: miamia for $7.50 tickets until those run out, and then tickets are still half-price at $10. Visit www.miapaschal-chaoticheart.com  http://counterpulse.org/programs/words-first 

WORDS FIRST is the premier solo performance event in San Francisco. The first Wednesday of every month, WORDS FIRST invites the finest solo artist, comics, and storytellers to the CounterPULSE stage. Solo performance is a unique brand of theater: one person, one stage. All pieces are written and performed by the solo artists themselves!

PERFORMERS:
MIA PASCHAL ~ "The Slaughterhouse Trapeze" (an excerpt)
A runaway trapeze artist tries to escape the slaughterhouse in this solo show about sex and death.

ERICKA LUTZ ~ "A Widow's To-Do List" (an excerpt)
Who knew that Love and Death came with a side order of So-Much-to-Do?

DEIRDRE KENNEDY ~ "Not THAT Irish"
Deirdre recounts her conflict growing up as a first generation Irish immigrant in Swingin’ Sixties London.

DAVID JACOBSON ~ "Theme Park" (an excerpt)
A world-weary amusement park detective and his young protégé probe a terrible ride accident – in a magic-tastical place where both the bodies and the park’s darkest secrets refuse to stay buried.

TICKETS: $20 General, $15 Student / Senior / Low-income
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/113732  DISCOUNT CODE: friendforfive

Check out: www.UrbanMusicPresents.com

Cultural Encounters: Friday Nights at the de Young

Cypress String Quartet performs as part of Cultural Encounters: Friday Night Soirées celebrating the exhibit Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay, Friday, July 23, 2010 at 7 p.m., de Young Museum - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Koret Auditorium | Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive | San Francisco

Program: Jennifer Higdon’s Impressions, Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor Op. 10
Tickets: FREE with Museum Admission. For information call 415.750.3600 or visit http://deyoung.famsf.org/  Cypress Quartet online: www.cypressquartet.com  Cultural Encounters: Friday Nights at the de Young offers a variety of interdisciplinary arts programs, including live music, poetry, films, dance, tours and lectures. The entire museum is open until 8:45 pm, and the café and cocktail bar are open for dinner and drinks.
 
Known for their elegant performances, the Cypress’s sound has been called “beautifully proportioned and powerful” by The Washington Post, and the ensemble has been singled out by Chamber Music Magazine as “a Generation X ensemble to watch.” The Cypress formed in 1996 in San Francisco and during its first rehearsals together created a now-signature sound through intense readings of J.S. Bach’s Chorales. Built up from the bottom register of the quartet and layered like a pyramid, the resulting sound is clear and transparent, allowing the texture of the music to be discerned immediately.  Visit www.cypressquartet.com
 

East Bay Housing Organization celebrates Affordable Housing Week

Join EBHO staff, members, allies and advocates Thursday, July 22, 2010 | 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at Pacific Coast Brewing Company, 906 Washington St. Oakland, CA 94607 one block from EBHO's Offices.  Help them send EBHO's Administrative Coordinator, Jennifer Chiang, off in style and thank her for her amazing contributions to EBHO. PCB is Family-friendly! For more information about the EBHO Happy Hour and Affordable Housing Week, please contact This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ; 510.663.3830 x313.
 

Black Elected Officials and Clergy of the Eastbay’s statement regarding Upcoming Oscar Grant Verdict
 
An Open Letter to the Community:
 
Within the next couple of days there will be a verdict in the Oscar Grant case.  This case has struck a nerve in Oakland and around the world.  In anticipation of the verdict the Black Elected Officials and Clergy of the Eastbay wanted to share some information with our community.
 
Representatives of our organization have been monitoring this case since Oscar Grant was senselessly murdered by Johannes Mehserle on January 1, 2009.  We demanded that a reluctant District Attorney file criminal proceedings against Mehserle; we helped to organize community pressure on BART to bring about organizational change and implementation of polices and procedures to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again; we have attended all of the court proceedings; and most importantly we have demanded justice for Oscar Grant, his family and everyone that Oscar represents – because we all could be Oscar Grant.
 
A community needs to know that its leadership will stand to protect their interests.  While we are hopeful that our Justice System will be just; we are mindful of incidences where it has failed us.  When the system failed us in the Rodney King case, the Justice Department stepped in to ensure that the Community’s interests were protected.  We, the Black Elected Officials and Clergy of the Eastbay, stand prepared to call upon all State and Federal agencies to seek any and all recourse if an unjust verdict is rendered in this case.
 
We know that emotions may run high depending on the outcome of Johannes Mehserle’s criminal proceedings.  The current State Court proceedings are just one step on the road to justice for Oscar Grant.  As such, we are asking that you work with us to shut down anyone who would engage in destructive behavior in our community.  We are also asking that you work with us as we continue to demand justice for Oscar.  We have been assured that the Justice Department is monitoring the Mehserle case.  
 
Martin Luther King said that peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.  In the same vein as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Rodney King, and many others we will receive JUSTICE FOR OSCAR GRANT.
 
The struggle continues,
 
Hon. Desley Brooks
Hon. Keith Carson
Minister Keith Muhammad
Rev. Dr. Harold R. Mayberry
Rev. Zachary Carey

A New Book by RaUn Nefer Amen: Healing is in the Spirit
Join communities throughout the country convening: Spiritual Healing Meditation Circles based on book
www.BlogTalkRadio.com/taui.
 
In New York, July 11, 2:30 to 4pm, repeated 4:30 to 6pm at the Ausar Auset Society, 626 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn NY 718 469-3199 free will donation. there will also be a Qi Gong healing meditation circle.

In Philadelphia, July 11, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Ausar Auset Society, 6008 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia PA, 215 843-0900 Admission is free with the purchase of the book.

In Oakland, July 10, 2:15 to 3:30pm ($8 good will donation), at Gospel Community Church 2807 55th Ave. (Fleming & 55th Ave.), 510 253-8120 or 510 536-5934.  Call for details on other spiritual events taking place all day (Astrology, Qi Gong, etc.) Visit www.ausarausetwestcoast.com The facility is wheelchair accessible.

In Milwaukee, July 18, 2 to 4 p.m. Ausar Auset Society 4712 W Fond Du Lac Ave., 414 873-4159

In Chicago, July 11, 1 to 2:30pm, Ausar Auset Society 2108 E 71st St, 2nd floor corner of 71st and Clyde.  773 643-1340. There will also be a Qi Gong healing meditation circle. Free admission.

Charlotte, North Carolina, July 10,  4 to 6pm (free) at Kamit Natural foods 2715 Tuckasegee Road, 704 339-0038.
 
Brooklyn, New York: Meet this celebrated author at the book launch party and signing on Saturday, July 10, 2010, 5pm (free event) at the Ausar Auset Society, 626 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn NY 718 469-3199, and Sunday, July 11, 5:30-7:00pm, $10 donation. 

A DAY TO REMEMBER HASANNI

The CFL Society and The East Bay Chevs will be sponsoring A DAY TO REMEMBER HASANNI.  July 10th will mark 11 months that Hasanni Campbell was reported missing.  To this day we do not know where Hasanni is or even what happened to him.  We are hosting a BBQ and Awareness event July 10th to raise awareness about missing and lost children and persons, and also to remember that Hasanni has not been found and we need to do whatever it takes to keep his story alive and to raise awareness.  Please bring your children out and enjoy a day in the park.
 
The CFL Society is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization and all donations are tax deductible.  If you would like to participate as a vendor or donate please contact The CFL Society at 510-315-2321.
 

Spoken Word/Benefit: Climbing PoeTree

Join Climbing PoeTree, Richelle Donigan, Sparlha Swa, and other special guests in a not-to-be-missed benefit for Common Fire and Be Present! Poetry, dance, music and more to nourish the soul.  Climbing PoeTree is the expression of a growing movement for radical social change. Alixa and Naima have sharpened their art as a tool for popular education, community organizing, and personal transformation. With roots in Haiti and Colombia, Alixa and Naima reside in Brooklyn and track footprints across the country and globe on a mission to overcome destruction with creativity.

The event is at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Friday July 09, 2010, $15-$50 sliding scale donation – 8 p.m.

People in Plazas Concert Series present: Little Brown Brother

Little Brown Brother performs, Friday July 9, 2010, 560 Mission Street Plaza, San Francisco, 12 noon - 1 p.m., free admission, and throughout the Bay Area at numerous events and nightclubs, showcasing their unique fusion of jazz, Latin, blues, and Filipino music.  They recently performed at the 6th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration on May 15th as part of the SF Pinoy Jazz Revue that also featured Bo Razon, Jonathan Bautista, Anna Maria Flechero and Annie Brazil.  It was a fantastic event held in the Civic Center / Little Saigon area of San Francisco, with several stages and numerous activities.    
 
LBB will appear in concert as part of the People in Plazas Concert Series again on: Thursday, August 19, at 333 Market Street Plaza & Tuesday, September 14, at 1275 Mission Street Patio.
 
All concerts are: 12 noon to 1 p.m.  The People in Plazas Concert Series presents free performances in public plazas during the summer months from June through September. These concerts are held during lunchtime in public venues that stretch from Embarcadero Center up to the Castro District on or near Market Street. This is a free outdoor event - all ages are welcome. Visit http://www.littlebrownbrother.com
 
The mission of People in the Plazas is to activate public spaces through events which generate social congregation. It is their goal to bring these spaces to the status of "everybody's neighborhood."  People in the Plazas support live music performances and embraces the diversity and wealth of the Bay Area music community.   The "People in Plazas" series is supported by the Mayor's Office of San Francisco, the San Francisco Art Commission, Musicians Union Local 6, AFM, the San Francisco Police Department, the SF Entertainment Commission, and with a grant from the Hotel Tax Fund /Grants for the Arts.   Take BART and public transportation to People in Plazas Concerts.  Visit www.peopleinplazas.org 
 

Haiti Celebration 

Portsha Jefferson & Rara Tou Limen presents: RASANBLE! Haitian Arts & Culture Festival 2010, an extravaganza and celebration of Haitian Culture, July 23-25 at The Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street (between Telegraph & Broadway)
Oakland.

The word Rasanble, in Haitian Kreyol, means “to gather” or “to assemble.” RASANBLE! Haitian Arts & Culture Festival 2010 goal is to gather dancers, musicians, community leaders, scholars, activists, dance and music educators, linguists, cultural and food enthusiasts and supporters of Haiti to CELEBRATE, make VISIBLE and INFORM participants of the rich cultural traditions that are the foundation of Haitian culture.

The Festival will provide a live forum over the course of multiple days that will allow for conversations, inquiries, technique analysis, and in depth interactions with traditional artists from Haiti. Rara Tou Limen would like to extend a personal invitation to you, requesting your presence at RASANBLE! We look forward to collectively celebrating the richness and vibrancy of Haitian art, music, dance and culture with you!

There will be a screening of: "The Other Side of the Water"- The Journey of a Haitian Rara Band in Brooklyn | a film by Jeremy Robins and Magali Damas* Kreyol Language Course * Haitian Cuisine * Lectures/Presentations * Master Folkloric Dance Workshops * Drum Circle * Vodou Song Class * Marketplace * Performance * RARA at the LAKE!

RASANBLE! 2010 Featured Guests:

Max Blanchet - Political & Economic Analyst | Engineer | Activist

Daniel Brevil - Rara Tou Limen, Musical Director | Master Drummer

Dr. Nadege T. Clitandre - Haiti Soleil, Inc.

The Desarmes Family - Haitian Cuisine

Nadia Dieudonne - Feet of Rhythm, Artistic Director

Mona Estime-Amira - Celebrated Folkloric Artist

Portsha Jefferson - Rara Tou Limen, Artistic Director

Emmanuel Louis - ADA | Ayiti Danse Ansanm, Artistic Director

Dr. Claudine Michel - University of California, Santa Barbara

Nina Schnall - Kreyol Language Course

Lionnel St. Surin - Neg Bhathalah Dance Ensemble, Artistic Director

Zanmi Lakay | Ti Mache (Haitian Crafts)

Mache Limen (Haitian Crafts)

Friday, July 23 | 7:30 PM | Admission: $10

For Festival Schedule & Fees please visit: www.raratoulimen.com
or write: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

  
Celebrate Avotcja's 69th Birthday Bash, Sunday July 25, 2010, at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, in Berkeley, $10-$20 sliding scale – 7 p.m.

Musicians and poets gather to celebrate Avotcja's 69th birthday. She is an award winning poet, multi-instrumentalist and a celebrated DJ at KPFA and KPOO. Artists include Val Serrant (djembe, steel drum)) w/ dancer Ava Square-LaVias, La Familia Luna, Adam David Miller (poet), Marc Kockinos (vocal poet), Ramon Piñero (poet), MamaCoatl (poet/singer), Avotcja & Modupue, Jon Jang (piano), Coto Pincheira (piano), Sandi Poindexter (violin), Eugene Warren (bass), Ian Dogole (multi-percussion), Francis Wong (sax, flute). Guest artists include: Faye Carol & Jordana (vocalist), Nancy Hom (poet, artist), Tureeda Mikell (poet, griot, storyteller), Genny Lim (poet), Ian Dogole (multi-percussion), Jose “Manny” Martinez (musician, singer, poet, actor), and Odilia Galvan Rodriquez, Leslie Simon (members of) The Bay Area Blues Society Caravan of All Stars w/ Bobby “Spider” Webb.


I Save Babylon: Music is the Weapon

The “I Save Babylon” benefit concert featuring SILA, Cheb I Sabbah, MC Rai, MJ Greenmtn (hamsa lila), Kristina Nekyia and DJ Pheeko will provide western instruments to community and youth centers in Iraq to help bridge the gap between cultures through music. Some of the Iraqi children have never touched a musical instrument due to poverty, the area in which they live, and the war. We hope to bring inspiration to the children of Iraq so they can envision a brighter future for themselves and their community through the unity of music.

Proceeds from this concert, Saturday July 17th, 8 p.m., at the Warfield 982 Market Street, San Francisco, will go towards purchasing and shipping both western and eastern instruments to predetermined community centers selected by the Levantine Center located in Los Angeles, CA. Tickets which are $25 available at http://i-save-babylon.eventbrite.com/For more information about their mission you can visit their website at http://www.levantinecenter.org/.

San Francisco Theatre Festival

The seventh annual San Francisco Theater Festival, a free, fun, one-day extravaganza of 120 shows on 14 stages will be held on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010, from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, featuring a performance by the cast of San Francisco’s smash hit musical, Beach Blanket Babylon.

There are many wonderful shows featuring African-American artists this year, including a staging of A Soldier's Play, Order My Life (based on a true story of prisoners trying to hold onto relationships while in prison), FirstBorn (15-year-old Daja Wilson struggles to hold her family together after the death of her famous musician mother.  Fighting to be seen despite her father's deep grief and her sister's rage, Daja soon finds out it's not easy to hold on to those who want to let go) as well as over a dozen more shows featuring African-American performers.  

The festival will take place at the Yerba Buena Gardens, YB Center for the Arts, Zeum, Metreon, and in other nearby venues: SPUR  Urban Center (654 Mission St.) and the California Historical Society (678 Mission St.).

New weekend additions to the festival include a free, no-host opening night reception with performances on Friday, 6-9 pm, Aug. 6th at 111 Minna Street. A preview of festival performances will also be presented at venues around the city on Saturday, Aug. 7th. Those venues include: Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (2868 Mission St), Eureka Valley Recreation Center (100 Collingwood St), Café Royale (800 Post St), and the North of Market CDB Theatre (134 Golden Gate Ave) (Tenderloin).  Mission Cultural Center performers include La Pandilla de Zacarilla and Tu Teatro from Mexico as well as local Latina performance artist Caila Lu
 
The festival’s 120 performers include: Arclight Repertory, Artis Mundi, Atmos Theatre, BATS Improv, Big City Improv, Blue Blanket, Bruce Pachtman, Crisis Hopkins, Enzo Lombard, Exit/Fringe Festival, Libby Skala, Lyric Theatre of San Jose, The Marsh, Mugwumpin, Multi-Ethnic Theater, New Conservatory Theatre, No Nude Men, Pi, PianoFight, Playground, Pocket Opera, Ray of Light, SF Free Civic Theater, SF Recovery Theatre, SF Boylesque, Stagebridge, One Act Players, Ross Valley Players, Bindlestiff Studio, Youth Speaks, and many others.

The festival shows cover the gamut of subjects and settings: Alice in Wonderland, a one-act set in an elevator, two plays about texting culture, an African American Hamlet and a site specific Hamlet, A Widow’s To-Do List, A Meth Lab, Vietnam War, Pirates of Penzance, Death, Prison, The Old West, O’Henry, Delilah, Bernie Madoff, and two shows from Mexico in Spanish. There is something for everyone at the SF Theater Festival.

This unique festival, a celebration of local theater attended by more than 10,000 enthusiastic theatergoers each year, has become an important showcase for theater groups and performers, as well as one of the Bay Area’s most popular one-day free summer events. The Festival program consists of short performances of 30 minutes or less at nine indoor and five outdoor stages.

All types of theater are presented, including drama, comedy, one-acts, excerpts, great scenes, Commedia Dell’arte, musical theater, solo performers, improv, Shakespeare, original works, children’s shows, and opera.  Yerba Buena Gardens (760 Howard St., SF 94103) is located between Mission & Folsom, Third & Fourth Streets in San Francisco. For information call:  415-543-1718 or visit www.SFTheaterFestival.org

In Memoriam

July 6, 2010, San Francisco — Stanley E. Williams, the founding Artistic Director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, died on July 2, 2010. He was 60 years old.

Mr. Williams was born in 1950 in Greeneville, North Carolina. When he was four, he moved with his family to New Haven, Connecticut, where he spent his childhood. As the oldest and the only boy in a family of six, Stanley helped raise his younger sisters, especially in the wake of his father’s death when Stanley was 10. His sense of himself as a person who would do great things in the world was well established at age 11, when he wrote President Kennedy a letter congratulating the President on his work and letting him know that he himself intended to be President some day. President Kennedy wrote Stanley back, telling him that he wished all young men had the mind that Stanley had and asking him to keep in touch.

Stanley first developed his passion for the theater in high school. His mother recalls him coming home to tell her that his plans for the Presidency would have to take a back burner to his new ambition: to become a Director and have his own theater.

Following high school, Stanley attended Connecticut University, majoring in business. But as soon as he finished college, Stanley and a friend bought a red sports car from his mother for $500 and drove it straight to Oakland, California to begin their new lives. He explained to his mother that he couldn’t do everything that he wanted to in Connecticut – only California was big enough for his hopes and dreams. However, his first job on the West Coast was not in theater at all, but rather delivering legal documents. The best thing he could say about that job, remembers a long-time friend, was that if you got to the office early enough, they would feed you breakfast.

When Stanley met Quentin Easter, all the pieces finally came together into a whole. Quentin recognized that Stanley’s creative potential needed an outlet and together they founded Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Stanley created the artistic vision for San Francisco’s first African American Arts Institution to be located in the high-profile theater district of San Francisco and Quentin made sure that there was a business plan in place to support Stanley’s genius.

As the Artistic Director, Stanley E. Williams presided over a theater that produced more than 120 plays, including West Coast and World Premieres, experimental works, classics in the African-American canon, lively musicals, and hard-hitting social and political dramas. His presentations ranged from the works of Nobel Laureates Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott, and Toni Morrison to Pulitzer Prize-winning writers Charles Fuller, Alice Walker and August Wilson, to large-scale musicals celebrating Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Lester Young, Fats Waller, Eubie Blake and others; to award winning dramas by James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and the theater’s namesake Lorraine Hansberry; to pioneering experimental theatre artists Adrienne Kennedy, Ntozake Shange and Maria Irene Fornes, and new works by Robert Alexander, Roger Guenveur Smith, David Rousseve Prince Gomolvilas and others.

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, under the artistic direction of Mr. Williams, has also hosted internationally acclaimed artists Danny Glover, Ntozake Shange, Ruby Dee, the late August Wilson, and Ossie Davis; and joined in collaborations with the American Conservatory Theatre, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cultural Odyssey, Afro Solo and others to bring the works of African-American writers and artists to a wider audience.

Stanley E. Williams was the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career and was recognized repeatedly for his immense contribution to the cultural life and soul of his adopted home of San Francisco. Albert Dixon, President of the Board of Directors notes, “The Board and Staff of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre are honored to carry on with the groundwork so lovingly and carefully laid by Mr. Williams and Mr. Easter. We feel strongly that Mr. Williams’ legacy will be fully served by the continued artistic growth and expansion of the theatre and the full expression of Mr. Williams’s unique vision.”

Mr. Williams is survived by his mother, Celestine Lyons, of Rocky Mountain, North Carolina; his sisters, Evangeline Whitehurst of Raleigh, North Carolina, Antoinette Carter of Marietta, GA, Isoke Ambidwile of Atlanta, GA, Sharon Reese of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Genevieve Banks of Austell, GA; his many nieces and nephews; and his adopted theater family and friends. The family is planning a private memorial. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent in Stanley’s honor to the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 777 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA 94109.

All requests for comment should be directed to the President of the Board of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Albert Dixon at (415) 345-3980.


Wanda's Picks Oscar Grant verdict special edition!

Rachel Jackson, organizing member of the New Years Movement 4 Justice, Oakland General Assembly for Oscar Grant, CA Coalition and Oakland Coalition, which meets each Thursday at 7 PM at the Continental Club, 1628 12th Street, Oakland. Next meeting, July 15. For information email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   The Oakland Townhall continues meeting this Saturday, July 10, 4 PM at Olivet Institutional Missionary Baptist Church807 27th Street @ San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, (510) 452-4201.

Frank B. Wilderson, III is a creative writer, dramaturge, filmmaker, poet, and critical theorist. He spent five years in South Africa where he worked as a university lecturer, an elected official of the Congress of South African Writers, and as a member of ANC's aboveground and underground structures. Wilderson's groundbreaking memoir, Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid won the 2008 American Book Award/Before Columbus Foundation (Ishmael Reed's organization); the 2009 Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award; the 2010 National Endowment for the Arts Literature/Creative Writing Fellowship; and was a Finalist for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year (Autobiography/Nonfiction).

Gregory Caldwell works at the Richmond Youth BUILD Program, where adults who have not completed high school are offered an opportunity to get a diploma or fulfill GED requirements. He is a Ph.D. candidate at UC Santa Cruz in the History of Consciousness Dept. where he is investigating incarceration: bodies and spirit housed most often in black bodies. Greg’s pedagogic interventions with young people "allow their minds to be expanded in two ways: first, in gaining a better understanding of the structural forces at work in the world, forces which either inhibit or enable ethical transformation; secondly, they come to understand how central they are, as youth of color, to those structural forces—even though the media implies that they are on the margins" (Wilderson). This work directly speaks to Oscar Grant, his murder and the spectacle or life he inherited, a life where even in death, he is blamed or held culpable for his demise. (Look at the media’s attempts to turn him into a villain pretrial.)

Mateen Kemet, director of Runaway Films shows “Oakland Be Mine,” a work-in-progress this evening. This film personifies Oakland as a beautiful black woman, who has attracted the attention of a visitor to town, who chases after her illusive presence which offers another view of this city in the Bay. Oakland Be Mine discussion and screening mixer is tonight, Friday, July 9, 2010, 7:00 PM to 10:30 PM as a part of Friday Night @ The Humanist Hall, 390 27th Streeet, at Telegraph in Oakland. This is a change in venue, as the City of Oakland shut down the Embarcadero because of the Mehserle verdict, July 8. Admission is free. The film, when complete will screen at the Oakland International Airport for a year. To see a clip visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/nucinema and
www.runawayfilmworx.com

Sonya Hopkins, an African American cowgirl and contestant in the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo this weekend, competing in several ladies events: Ladies Barrel Racing and Ladies Steer Undecoratin. The Sacramento rancher has been participating in the rodeo from 1998 to the present, and has the honor of being the Bill Pickett Rodeo finalist. Sonya can be contacted at: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Named "Best New Country Artist" by New Music Weekly, Miko's debut album, "Freeway Bound", also received honors as the "2007 Country Album of the Year", at The Independent Music Awards. Miko also serves as emcee at the Bill Pickett invitational rodeo, this weekend, July 10 & 11, 2010, 2:30 PM at the Rowell Ranch Rodeo Grounds, 9711 Dublin Canyon Road, Hayward, CA. Visit http://www.billpickettrodeo.com/schedule.html or call 510.864.2747

Tuck and Patti (Patti Cathcart, vocals; Tuck Andress, guitar) perform at Stanford Jazz, Dinkelspiel Auditorium,  Saturday, July 10, 2010, 8 PM. Visit http://www.stanfordjazz.org/jazzfestival/07_10.html

I forgot to mention the 24th Annual AIDS Walk San Francisco, Sunday, July 18 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It’s amazing that its been 24 years. I remember the first year and the second and the third and the tenth, now 24 years later people are still getting infected and the disease it no longer affecting prioarily the homosexual community, rather the larger numbers of new infections are in the heterosexual community. Visit http://www.aidswalk.net/sanfran/

 I also didn’t do my July shout out to friends like Avotcja who is having her annual party at La Pena Cultural Center, Sunday, July 25, 2010. Visit www.lapena.org Happy Birthday to Key Book Shop owner, Kokovulu Lumakhanda and Genevieve Bayan and Alison Gates. Happy Birthday also to President Jean Bertrand Aristide. . There is a massive protest scheduled for July 15, 2010 in his honor in Port-au-Prince.
Pablo Neruda, the wonderful Chilean poet, was born this month.

We also want to congratulate Sara Marie, Ricardo and big sister, Suzanna Marie, Prada on the their new family member, Andres Leon Prada.

I hadn’t realized it was six months since the devastating earthquake January 12, 2010. I plan on returning early August, I am taking monetary donations to organizations and organizers who are grassroots—read underfunded and certainly not on the lists of USAID, the Read Cross or any other multinational charities. Let me know if your interest is children, youth, adults, elders—education, housing or shelter, health.

Lectures/Readings

Author Ishmael Reed will read from and discuss his latest book, Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the Nigger Breakers.Question & answer period, as well as book sale and signing, to follow.

Ishmael Reed is going to be delivering one of his more salient critiques at the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street (at Grove) Koret Auditorium, Sunday, July 25, 2010, 2-4 PM. It is a free event. Under slavery, "nigger breakers" had the job of destroying the spirits of tough black men by whatever means necessary. At age 15, Frederick Douglass was sold to Edward Covey who had the mandate to break him. Ishmael Reed makes the case that President Barack Obama is being assailed by 20th-Century descendants of Covey. In a series of essays written during the 2008 primaries and after Obama's election, Reed describes how Obama's opponents and some supposed allies use modern reincarnations of those same ugly demons to break him. What's more, statements and alliances he made during the campaign and in office have made him easy prey.

Best of La Palabra Musical/The Music Of The Word

After two years, La Palabra Musical/The Music Of The Word concludes July 18, 2010, 3:30-6:30 PM @ Rebecca's Books in Berkeley. I is the last event at Rebecca’s Books. Economics has taken its toll & the doors will close at the end of July. But until then you can help by buying a book or 2. Everything's on sale. It's our way of saying thank you. The reading is still in English, Spanish, Spanglish y Lo Que Sea, hosted by Avotcja.

Donations accepted. Don’t forget to bring your Congas,Guiros, Maracas, Panderetas etc. The store which specializes in Ethnic Poetry is located at 3268 Adeline Street in and is wheel chair assessable. For information call: (510)852-4768, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or www.Avotcja.com and This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Hole in the Head Film Festival

This Indie film festival is pretty gory this year with lots of scary films: violence, gore, the supernatural.
But for those whose tastes lean this way visit http://www.sfindie.com/ I had a great interview with director Isreal Luna about his film: Ticked Off Trannie with Knives which closes the Festival at the Roxie July 22, and then opens the festival at the Viz in Japantown in San Francisco. Visit www.blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks

Wanda's Picks Radio Show
Original Air Date: July 14, 2010

We open with a rebroadcast of an interview earlier this year with Jean Yvon Kernizan and Selena who talk about Haiti just after the earthquake. 7/12 marked the six month anniversary and the situation is still dire. Stay tuned for alive update in the coming weeks. Director, Israel Luna's "Ticked Off Trannies Trannies With Knives?' Better be nice to the girls, or they'll cut ya!" one reviewer states--closes the Another Hole in the Wall Film Festival, July 22 at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco. He is joined by actor: Willam Belli. He plays the character Rachel Slurr. Festival programmer, Kelda McKinney, also joins us. Trannies also screens in Japantown at VIZ Theatre on July 23.Visit http://www.sfindie.com Raye Mitchell, founder of I C HOPE: The Making a New Reality Foundation, Specific Community Change Programs and Projects in Development, and is launching the inaugural:G.U.R.L.S. Rock Summit, August 28, 2010 Oakland, CA. A program that focuses on supporting girls and girls of color to be global leaders and have local impact. Focus will be on leadership, self-esteem and self acceptance. An attorney who studied at Harvard Law School where she met President Obama. Ms. Mitchell is also a motivational speaker, activist in the change movement, change leadership, social entrepreneurism. Sheryle A. Grants joins Ms. Mitchell to talk about G.U.R.L.S. Rock and the skills she brings as a philanthropist with a passion for working with youth. Sheryl has raised 65K to support the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Oakland Bay Area Chapter’s Positive Steps Program (girls 12-17). She has also developed curriculum for Positive Steps. Visit www.ICHOPE2.com or call (925) 386-6781 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it We close with a conversation with Annette Ruah and Catherine, founders of Jiji la Watoto and the Taste of Africa Fundraiser, July 18 at Habitot Children's Museum in Berkeley, 12-4 PM, to raise funds for “An African Village Project. Visit http://jijilawatoto.com/media/

Dan Hoyle's "The Real Americans"  review at The Marsh Theatre in San Francisco through Sept. 25, 2010

I always wonder why white artists don’t look to their own communities for stories to showcase, rather than the easier route of passive objectification of the known villain: black people and other people of color, often poor and similarly objectified. Dan Hoyle who is a fine writer and actor has done just this with his latest one man show in an extended run at The Marsh Theatre in San Francisco. In an uninterrupted 90 minutes Hoyle takes his audience from comfortable San Francisco to the American Heartland, Texas and then to Alabama…maybe elsewhere. I get lost geographically –I just know we are in the southland—not the mall in Hayward, CA (smile). I can smell the crickets and the turpentine and feel Hoyle’s frustration with Americans whose values shape the country no matter how any delegates we send or electoral votes California casts.

The overt racism is so common –it's almost a ritual the blind participate in because they can’t see any way to compromise and not lose face in themselves, not necessary to their neighbors or friends.

Hoyle makes fun of his California friends who are trying to protect the planet –consume less, participate in the global exploitation of the economy and the disenfranchised populations, yet sacrifice none of their creature comforts like brunch on Sunday mornings –what Hoyle calls an “elitist” pastime that points to how disconnected they really are from the suffering of the majority of the population here and elsewhere.

Raised in a liberal family of artists who use their work to illustrate the inequities surrounding most of us—Hoyle looks at how easily California liberals find solace in the shields we can inflate at will even before the collision with situations and people we find uncomfortable. His friends make light of the issues killing fellow human beings never mind the planet. It's all cliché with none of the panache. What Hoyle finds is that he can do the same, yet refuses--must be the artist or writer in him, the desire to feel uncomfortable, out of place. . . .  So he leaves the creature comforts and goes on the road with his friends' blessings whom he calls often to let off frustration and disbelief steam.

The Real Americans is slapstick fun at times, the characters almost unbelievable, but with Hoyle, truth is stranger than fiction and given his stellar track record at bringing to the stage stories that ring with an authenticity one can't fake--we believe as we look to the concession stand for a drink of clear powerful white lighting.   

Hoyle's character sings accompanied by Hoyle on an acoustic guitar, raps and dances across the stage--I guess comic relief if his saving grace, how else can he survive this culturally shocking nightmare? The raps are so funny. Often so inebriated on moonshine he can barely walk, let alone think, intoxication is another theme that comes from The Real Americans.

Doyle is just passing through, but for those he leaves behind, often the only way a Vietnam veteran can get through the days and weeks which have stretched into years since he was last employed. The same is true of another character who is unable to walk, so he drinks and then there is another veteran who stopped drinking and counsels youth against joining the military—a source of pride for many families who have served their country for consecutive generations.

Youth returning from Iraq are committing suicide, yet this fact does not keep others from filling their shoes. Hoyle’s characters talk about homosexuality and creation theories, while trying to get him to use his van as a brothel on wheels. Hoyle refuses and they go to the fireworks show that July 4th weekend. This is where the play starts with the founding of the country— no one remembers which birthday it is.

Hoyle runs into a Dominican friend who worked with him on a production in New York. Imagine see a large Dominican family in a Southern café –Hoyle just one of two white patrons. His friend is also a veteran and Hoyle depicts his interaction with the customer whose son is a veteran and once discharged went to New York to live. Hoyle portrays the Dominican’s character’s anger at the father’s query about his military service—he thinks the man is saying that he doesn’t look like a “real American,” and then realizes it’s a bit more complicated than that, which I think is the point of the entire piece, what makes an American real or fake is a matter of perception, perceptions which are often based on lore and popular opinion which on many occasions is wrong.

Patriotism is a clear theme in the Real Americans, which already mentioned begins on July 4. It seems that real Americans are willing to die for their country, even if they are not ready to live and let others live here as well. With such a grim future ahead it's no wonder kids are committing suicide and adults are drinking themselves to death.

When asked by a character who relied on FBI reports and other government sources for his information where he gets his information from, Hoyle says “from talking to people.” How simplistic, yet what happens in the café is proof that much of what is dysfunctional about our country is the fact that people are not talking to one another.

Fear and anger keep much of our country divided and silent to policies which do not serve the majority population well.  What Dan Hoyle’s “Real Americans” says is that no matter how uncomfortable these personal, one-on-one encounters makes one feel, this is the only way to really find out who the “Real Americans” really are and in that conversation learn that there is no much difference between us after all despite the historic debts that need to be paid…checks that according to Martin King need to be covered. 

A truth and reconciliation tribunal, like that held in South Africa and Rwanda, would do this country a lot of good. What Hoyle in his latest work uncovers has not had a national hearing.  Racism and bigotry, recent immigration and historic slavery connected to present inequities is a conversation the president nor Congress can have for the American people. What the real American looks like is a flat paper doll with so many attributes that one cut out couldn’t hold them all. Real Americans look like the world’s majority populations: people of color, yet for most of the world and even in this country, Real Americans are white people, descendents of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, the principle writer. Of the 56 signators, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, among the more well-known or famous white men—not one signature was that of the new nation’s indigenous hosts.

America is founded on a farce. Real Americans, like beauty, is a concept solely in the eye of the beholder, and we know how arbitrary and biased that is. Visit http://www.themarsh.org/dan_hoyle_real_americans.html  There are no shows July 22-23. However the mostly sold-out show continues through Sept. 25, Wednesday-Sunday, at The Marsh in San Francisco, 1062 Valencia Street, (near 22nd street in the Mission) San Francisco. 

The Marsh in Berkeley

Don Reed’s E-14th Street: True Tales of a Reluctant Player, is up through August 1 each weekend, which includes Friday night, 9 PM, Saturdays, 8 PM and Sundays at 7 PM. The Marsh Berkeley Address is 2120 Allston Way (near Shattuck) Berkeley, CA 94704. For information call the Box Office at 800-838-3006, for Event Information: 415-826-5750

Chelle and Friends at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

July 18, 2010, Noon to 3:00, Yerba Buena Gardens presents: "New Orleans Stage"
760 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA, www.ybgf.org 

July 24, 2010, 11:00 a.m. , Children’s Festival, Yerba Buena Gardens, 760 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA, www.ybgf.org

August 13, 2010, 11:00 a.m., Children's Festival and Michelle Jacques’s “Chelle and Friends” Birthday at Yerba Buena Gardens, 760 Howard Street,  San Francisco, CA, www.ybgf.org

Black Theodicy Forum August 6 at 6:00 p.m. - August 7 at 5:00 p.m. in North Carolina

Representative scholars from Islamic and Christian faith to explore Black American responses to historical patterns of group subjugation and suffering.The event is open to the public, but requires Pre-registration at www.unc.edu/iaar/blacktheodicyforum

Special Event for George Jackson

The Annual salute to Comrade G is Friday, July 16, 7 PM at Centro Pueblo, 474 Valencia Street in San Francisco. For information call: (415) 821-6171. Professor Greg Thomas, Syracuse University, will give the keynote. The event is free. There will be video footage shown, talks by former comrades as well. The event is wheel chair accessible.


Steve Martinot's "The Machinery of Whiteness: studies in the structures of racialization"  Temple University Press, Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 7:00 PM at the Niebyl-Proctor Library. 6501 Telegraph Avenue (at 65th St., just north of Alcatraz).

A study of how the structures of racialization in the US produce and reconstruct white hegemony and white racialized identity whenever those cultural structures are called into question by pro-democracy movements, such as the civil rights movements. Other topics are how class is racialized, the relation of the corporate structure to the invention of the modern concept of race, the relation of white populism to the state, and to US interventionism in the world.

There will be a general discussion of some of the issues the book raises, for both our present political situation and a proactive future. There will also be refreshments. Feel free to bring additional refreshments to share if you like. Visit  http://www.marxistlibr.org/