On the 50^th Anniversary of Dr. King’s Assassination, Wednesday, April 4, we need to stop and reflect on the many landmark movements which began 50 years ago like hip hop—

Though its articulation is grounded in African Diaspora linguistic performance body-politic, an embodied black politic which is holistic in its presentation as it is grounded in spirit, hip-hop like other African aesthetic traditions has imprinted itself on American and other youth cultures especially style and attitude. The flavor that is black culture whether it is speech or how one tips her hat is so embedded in a racialized cultural landscape that is antithetic black life in all forms—blackness is still BAD, to be avoided, yet Blackness is a commodity exported, carried in purses and found on most household shelves cold and room temperature.

If the Black Woman is God, then Black people are Gods too. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said it first in Student Enrollment No. 1. “We are the maker, the owner, cream of the Planet Earth, God of the Universe. Now in the Student Enrollment the role of God was referencing black men exclusively; however, in 2018 it’s another story altogether. It was another story when in Kemet, black women ruled as pharaohs and queens. Patriarchy is a misstep black people need to eliminate from its collective vocabulary because consciousness does not support such attitudes.

For the Oakland Museum of California to showcase such culture in an exhibit entitled: RESPECT: Hip Hop Style and Wisdom now through August 2018 is to elevate this conversation and its creators to a level unprecedented.  It is not as if hip-hop needed validation; however, for some—the 1 percent, such presentation means audience shift like Loma Prieta toppled bridges, redrew lines, erased entire geographies.

With RESPECT elevated as an aim and lens through which the gaze is primed and aimed, Trumpites & Company are now interested. Media marketing has expanded its base. Perhaps attitudes will now shift in positive ways?  In Martin King’s speech “Where Do We Go from Here,” he quotes theologian Theodore Parker: “‘the arch of moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice’”[1]

Literacy is never a waste and to become literate in hip-hop, is to become literate in the Black Arts and Black Power movements interlocking discourse. It is a retelling of the same story—the “forced migration” of millions of African people renamed “redlining,” “imminent domain” and “gentrification.” These descendants of other migrants moved en masse from another continent to this land, only to become trapped in urban enclaves or nouveau dungeons a.k.a. prisons.

Like “jazz” named by others to describe a creation which shifted the earth on its axis so that folks had to hold tight when gravity released its claim on earth— the same is true for hip hop, a new name for the historic rumbling that is black urban culture. It’s the same people driving the machine, each generation passing the torch forward and back—Sankofa is an attitude, a direction and value. Its innovative Afrikan folk tradition branding —Ashay!

Though hip-hop resonates globally, especially as an expressive arts vehicle for disenfranchised communities—those people paved and storm-fenced and walled from view—it is a creation born out of bondage, black bondage in Garvey’s Jamaica taking root in Queens, New York traveling south and west where folks were diggin’ ancestral vibrations. Not monolithic, this creative expression expansive as were the four elements: rap a.k.a, MCing or rhyming, d-jaying & turntabling, graf or writing, b-boying “which encompasses hip-hop dance, style, and attitude, along with the sort of virile body language that philosopher Cornel West[2] described as ‘postural semantics’” and a fifth element “knowledge” or wisdom according to Africa Bambaataa.[3] who in an interview said his success as the godfather of hip hop is “all based on funk and spirituality. You treat people with greatness and greatness will come back to you” (McCormack).

From the cypher – the African Village, the ubongi where the town gathers to converse, solve disputes, develop solutions – to the turntable where Morse code signals altered the universe permanently, to the graf or writing code, before coding became a thing—black folks have always been transcendental in their assessment of reality. The style and the musical lyricism continued in the African folk tradition: blues, jazz . . . freestyling another name for Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Kwame Ture, Ella Baker, Sojourner Truth, Muhammad Ali, Dick Gregory, Marcus Garvey, President Thomas Sankara, Winnie Mandela, Queen Hatshepsut and so on.

There is so much to see and watch and listen to and experience at the OMCA’s RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style and Wisdom—all I can say is visit often. There are talks and other family friendly activities planned from Yoga to Chess to the Barbershop Talks.

There is a stand with books—“wisdom” where a mic invites dialogue. The exhibit space opens with the Dojo—recorded interviews, films, and more unchartered space where if anyone is inspired to “break” – he or she can. There is a chess game set up, plus lots of cushioned benches are spread throughout the connected galleries so patrons can comfortably watch the extended videos which are a signature aspect of curator Rene Guzman’s style. He likes open and accessible. If anyone recalls the Black Panther exhibition just last year. RESPECT continues the story. Adisa Banjoko, a.k.a The Bishop and Susan Barrett, connect the visual, material and spiritual culture cross genres, cross generations. These are the Panthers and their Panther cubs. Hip hop certainly owes much of its context and relevance to the work started by revolutionaries who waged counterinsurgencies, domestic battles which cost many their lives and freedom to date. Those legacies continue today on the 50th Anniversary of Lil Bobby Hutton’s assassination two days after Martin King’s. Don’t miss the program April 7, 1-5 p.m. at Bobby Hutton Park, (a.k.a. deFremery Park), 18^th and Adeline Streets in Oakland, (916) 455-0908, ItsAboutTime/BPP Facebook. Hip-hop resonates with other dominant nations because the oppressive stench of racism and white supremacy leaks into their kitchens from beneath sinks where pipes are shot full of holes like NAFTA and other trade(r) agreements.

Some of my favorite aspects of the exhibit are reflected in the largess of the work: even the gowns are supersized—it is as if giants wore them. The films and testimony, music and art give patrons a grounding in the work. There are so many wonderful photographs by renowned artists and new artists too. The collages are great too. I just wish the photographers had been able to also have videos or a code connected to the work so patrons could dial into hear the backstories. I will have to give a more in depth review once I have read everything and watched all the films and spoken to the consulting curators: Adisa and Barrett. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I have interviewed two exhibitors: Traci Bartlow, choreographer, dance historian, entrepreneur, in this exhibit photographer who has two collages and Amanda Sade whose large poster sized portraits and other work speak to the colors and vibrancy of hip-hop style, its artists and people. Listen to a conversation with both artists on Wanda’s Picks Radio show, March 28 and Eric Arnold, journalist, historian, documentarian, activist, who created the Hip-Hop Atlas of the Bay (45 spots) on the same show. He closes it out.

As I walked around during the press opening I would eavesdrop on conversations between artists and others who had relationships with people pictured in the framed work.  I love the inclusion of Nijel Binns’s marquette or statuettes of the Hon. Marcs Mosiah Garvey, Min. Malcolm X and Tupac Amaru Shakur – it is just one place among many others where hip hop forefathers are connected to this artistic child of the Revolution. (Listen to an interview with the sculptor on Wanda’s Picks Radio Show March 14).

I heard many people who know a lot more about hip hop culture than I do,[4] speak about what is absent or left out. I don’t know how anyone saw everything in one afternoon and I was there for four hours. There are also several places where patrons can add their stories to the archives. It will take multiple journeys through the material to completely grasp the magnitude of RESPECT: Hip Hop Style and Wisdom. http://museumca.org/exhibit/respect-hip-hop-style-wisdom

Flow: Hip-Hop Yoga-Mindful Movement on 1^st Fridays @ at OMCA: 4/6.5/4.6/1.7/6.8/4
Chop It Up-Barbershop Community Conversations @OMCA:4/28 (Hip-Hop & Entrepreneurship); 5/26; 6/30;7/28
Cypher Sunday-Rap, Dance, Beatboxing @OMCA: 4/1 &15; 5/6 &20; 6/3 & 17; 7/1 &15; 8/12
Hip-Hop Trivia-Test Your Knowledge@ OMCA: 4/20; 5/18; 6/15; 7/20
Mic Check/Checkmate-Chess Games@OMCA: 4/11; 5/9; 6/13; 7/11
Plug ‘n’ Play—Live DJ Sets@ OMCA: Every Friday, April 6-August 10
Visit museumca.org/events

Queens: Women, Chess, Hip Hop, Friday, April 6, 7-8:30 p.m in the Great Hall, Level 2. The conversation and interactive chess event inside the exhibition RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom, features Rochelle Ballantyne and Jennifer Shahade with Adisa Banjoko, Hip-Hop Chess Federation founder and writer of Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx. A rising star, Stanford graduate Ballantyne is the Black female closest to achieving chess title of “Master.”

Also Friday, April 6: The Women’s Music Festival- A Night at the Oakland Museum (6-10 p.m.) which includes a panel on Women in Hip-hop panel at 8 p.m.

As part of the 2018 Women in Music Festival, this special ticketed event includes access to RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom and WIM’s first-ever panel discussion on women in Hip-Hop. Tickets are $20 (including admission) and are available for purchase through the Women in Music Festival website. Get tickets

Later in April, Kevin Powell: The Education of Us Tour, Friday, April 20, 7-8:30 p.m.

Weekend Tours of RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style and Wisdom
There are tours scheduled on Saturday and Sundays, 1-1:45 p.m. beginning April 7-8. The tour is included with the museum admission and the $4 charge for special exhibitions.

BLACK GODS MATTER Lecture, with renowned Yoruba chief priest Babalawo Araba Awodiran Agboola, of Oworinsoki Kingdom Lagos, Nigeria

Babalawo Araba Awodiran Agboola, of Oworinsoki Kingdom Lagos, Nigeria. Araba Agboola’s family have been Babalawo’s (Ifa Priests) since the beginning of time, tracing all the way back to the times of Orunmila, the chief architect of the system we know as Ifa. His father, Araba Ifasina Agbool was the Araba of Lagos, and a major force in the resilience of African traditional religions in the face of colonialism and cultural genocide.

His lecture, Saturday, April 7, 6-9 p.m., at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School, 4314 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, will cover the following topics: What is Ifa?What is an Orisa?Is it “voodoo and witchcraft”? Tools for how to begin and maintain African spiritual practices. How to build a relationship with your ancestors.There will also be time for a Q & A session.

This family friendly night will also feature an Orisa inspired concert by Sistah Iminah and friends. A $20 love offering is asked, however no one will be turned away for lack of funds. YOUTH ARE FREE.

Araba Agboola is a living encyclopedia of African oral history that has been passed on for thousands of years, the Odu Ifa. He made history as the first college gratitude Babalawo in Nigeria and has traveled the world continuously educating thousands of people in Nigeria, Brazil, Venezuela, throughout Europe and across America. This is a rare opportunity and we are honored to have him come to Oakland during his 2018 World Tour.

Film Festivals
BAMPFA’s African Film Festival

The Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive’s African Film Festival 2018 continues this month with “Green White Green” dir. by Abba Makama (Nigeria 2016), Thursday, April 19, 7 p.m. The Festival has two May screenings, Wed., May 2, 7 p.m. “Africa and the Diaspora: Short Films, featuring the work of four directors, with director, Carlos Javier Ortiz, We All We Got and A Thousand Midnights (USA), in person that evening.

Listen to an interview on Wanda’s Picks Radio (March 2, 2018) with Senegalese director, Mamadou Dia, whose work Samedi Cinema (2016), celebrates the passion two boys have for film and what it takes to raise the funds to see a show. Other films that evening were shot in Burkina Faso and Jamaica by directors Cedric Ido’s Twaaga (2015) and dir. Lebert Bethune’s Jojolo (1966). For tickets and information visit: https://bampfa.org/program/african-film-festival-2018  BAMPFA is located at 2155 Center Street Berkeley, (510) 642-0808

America ReFramed, in its new series looks at Incarceration and Recidivism

For three consecutive Thursday evenings (8/7c p.m.) beginning April 3 with “Milwaukee 53206,” dir. Keith McQuirter’s film; “Beyond the Wall,” dir. Jenny Phillips and Bestor Cram’s on April 10 and in Annelise Wunderlich and Richard O’Connell’s film: “The Corridor,” airing April 17, the award-winning weekly documentary series, hosted by Natasha Del Toro, America ReFramed looks at mass incarceration, recidivism and trauma.

After the screenings on The World Channel, the films are then made available to audiences on the website: worldchannel.org   America ReFramed is about access, engagement and action. Christopher Hastings, Executive producer, says that each series is chosen for its relevance to communities perhaps silenced by such inequities as those visited here— social justice inequities within the judicial and criminal corrections systems. “The Corridor” is about 5 Keys School housed at the county jail in San Francisco. Education is a proven pathway to freedom.

Audiences will witness how within the system of corrections, rehabilitation is not supported in a concrete way whether this is Milwaukee where the zip code 53206 is a ticket to a life behind bars or we are looking at men returning to Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts. We witness young men, one underage without housing, addicted to drugs—men who have fallen between the cracks in a system too inflexible to respond to immediate often urgent needs.  We also see how race limits or denies men and women who have proven they have changed an opportunity to fully participate in society. 90 percent of those locked up come home, yet barriers to employment, housing, and other supportive government services keep parents estranged from their kids and estranged from full access as citizens to their democratic rights. For information about the program, visit: http://worldchannel.org/programs/america-reframed/

Boots Riley’s Coup at the San Francisco International Film Festival with his film: “Sorry to Bother You” screening in San Francisco and Oakland, April 12

Happy Birthday to Raymond Lawrence “Boots” Riley! What a way to start a new solar revolution—b. April 1, 1971, than with a first feature: “Sorry to Bother You” that is centerpiece for the San Francisco International Film Festival 2018. I hadn’t known Boots was a film major. Certainly, his lyrical poetry for the Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club, fill an aural canvas—the live soundtrack bumping the ante “higher” as it dances these concepts into unsuspecting minds whose bodies wake up in the middle of a slide into critical thought BAM!

Boots is a political activist and artist with a tested literal and philosophical work that keeps the volume on blast— His film screens twice in one day, at 6:30 p.m. at the Castro theatre in San Francisco and at 8 p.m. at the Grand Lake theatre, two art deco landmarks, classy upscale venues—a fitting setting for a film that examines place, gender and opportunity. “According to Riley, ‘Sorry to Bother You’s’ Oakland location is a key element of the film, ‘The story and my understanding of the world and everything springs out from this geographical spot’” (San Francisco Chronicle). Boots is very much a man of the people, people who stand up and make things happen. Son of a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Walter Riley, Esq., on the 50^th Anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, “Sorry to Bother You,” looks at how what we do to fit in—ethical compromises, can come back to haunt us.

“Sorry to Bother You” centers on an Oakland-based telemarketer named Cassius Green who discovers a magical key to professional success. It takes on such topics as racism and corporate greed — some (film) buyers felt its satire was deft, while others griped that it juggled too many ideas.

“Annapurna, which specializes in auteur-driven fare such as ‘The Master’ and ‘Detroit,’ was pretty blunt about its love for the picture.

‘We f—ing love this movie,’ the studio said in a statement.

“The film stars Lakeith Stanfield (“Get Out”), Tessa Thompson (“Creed”), Armie Hammer (“Call Me by Your Name”), David Cross (“Arrested Development”), and Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”). Boots, director, already had the album written with music featured in the film (Variety).
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“Nearly as deranged as it is politically engaged, Boots Riley’s sui generis “Sorry to Bother You” is the kind debut feature that knocks your socks off, tickles your bare tootsies with goose feathers for a while, then goes all Kathy Bates in the final stretch, ultimately taking a sledgehammer to your kneecaps. What, there’s no category on Netflix for movies like that? Too bad: The Oakland-based rapper isn’t waiting for permission to speak his piece, pioneering a new form of wildly inventive, highly confrontational satire that dares to question the system, pitting an immensely likable black actor (Lakeith Stanfield) against the fat-cat capitalists (represented here by a coked-out, sarong-wearing Armie Hammer) responsible for inventing a new 21st-century form of slavery” (Debruge).

San Francisco International Film Festival: April 4-17 Picks con’t.
https://www.sffilm.org/2018-sffilm-festival/  or call (415) 561-5000.

The Rescue List dir. Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink April 6, 11, 12. April 11 there will be a panel discussion afterward facilitated by Human Rights Watch.

Lake Volta in Ghana is the largest man-made lake in the world; it is also notorious as a locale for forced child labor. Bay Area filmmakers Zachary Fink and Alyssa Fedele’s beautifully shot documentary charts the courageous efforts of a local safe house to rescue the kids, give them schooling and therapy, and prepare them for reintegration into their families. Though it contains many intimate and moving moments with the children, the star of the film is real life hero Kwame, who initiates several dramatic rescues.

Visit SIFF Festival Highlights: https://www.sffilm.org/2018-sffilm-festival/spotlights/festival-spotlights

Also don’t miss: Tre, Maison, and Dasan, three boys who all share something in common – one of their parents is in jail. Denali Tiller, dir., doesn’t just document the tale of so many children (1 in 14), she allows the children to participate as lead storytellers in a story they want to share with the world. What is powerful about these kids is how they continue to hold onto their dads and mom, despite the turmoil such love wrecks on their lives. These kids choose to visit their parents who in some cases were in prison when they were born which means the child never knew their parent as a free person. One father asks his son if there are victims on both sides of the equation. The boys wear the microphones while visiting with their fathers and mother. When one hears that prison disrupts everyone’s life “Tre, Maison and Dasan” illustrate how this is true. The film is screening April 8, 10, 13.

“Wrestle” shot in Huntsbille, Alabama: April 6, 9, 10.

The last film, “The Judge,” dir. Erika Cohn. Screening, Apr. 6, 7, 13.

Judge Kholoud Al-Faqih became the first female appointed to any of the Middle East’s Shari’a courts in 2009, challenging longstanding traditions and customs of women’s roles in society. Constantly battling controversy over her position, Al-Faqih offers guidance, mentorship, and support both in and outside the courts. In this intimate portrait, director Erika Cohn captures the determined and compassionate judge as she strives to achieve justice in a system that so often does not favor women.

On the Fly:
7 week South African film series at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) begin April 18 with MAMA AFRICA, a documentary on Miriam Makeba.  All programs begin at 6:30.  https://www.moadsf.org/blog/born-free-film-looks-at-post-apartheid-south-africa-april-18-may-31/  Meklit Hadero @ SFJAZZ April 6; 16^th Annual Oakland International Film Festival  April 3-7 Visit http://www.oiff.org/  Film: Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, & the NRA, Sat., April 14, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Alameda City Council Chambers. It is a free screening, not suitable for small children. Watch the trailer on bravenewfilms.org/makingakilling; Joining Forces Against Policing and Jails in San Francisco: A Half Day Summit against the Prison Industrial Complex, Sat., April 7, 10 AM to 3 PM at City College, Mission Campus, 1125 Valencia Street. For information nosfjail@curbprisonerspending.org 510-444-0484 nonewsfjail.wordpress.com; No to US Wars at Home and Abroad, Oakland, Sunday, April 15, Spring Action: March and Rally, 11 AM-12:30 p/m. Assemble and Rally at Lake Merritt Amphitheatre 12^th and 4^th Avenue on Lake Merritt Blvd.; 12:30 PM March from Oscar Grant Plaza near 14^th and Broadway. For more information visit Facebook.com/endwarsspring2018 ; SF WAR Walk Against Rape April 7, 10 a.m. registration and program starts at the Women’s Building in SF, 3543 18^th Street.

San Francisco Bay View Fundraiser

Solitary Man: A Visit to Pelican Bay State Prison performed by Charlie Hinton and Fred Johnson is Saturday, April 21, 3 p.m. at the Black Repertory Group Theatre, 3201 Adeline Street, Berkeley (near Ashby BART). Following the performance there will be a panel featuring torture survivors, attorneys and allies. Donation is $10-20. Visit sfbayview.com and Facebook:/solitarymantheplay

Destiny Arts’ presents: “Evolve,” April 6-15 @ Laney College Theatre

This year, EVOLVE will take thousands of audience members on a journey into The Museum of Forgotten Truths. Along with the teenage members of the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, their 9-12 year old counterparts in the Destiny Junior Company, and a group of 16 grandmothers, the performance also features the work from an array of guest artists, including: Suzanne Gallo of the internationally-acclaimed vertical dance company, BANDALOOP, performers from Molodi, a body percussion troupe from Las Vegas, Keith Terry, artistic director of Crosspulse and producer of the International Body Music Festival, Risa Jaroslow, artistic director of Risa Jaroslow & Dancers, and Samara Atkins and Jenay Anolin, artistic directors of Mix’d Ingrdnts.  Show times: 4/6, 4/7, 4/13, 4/14: 7:30pm; 4/10: Field Trip Shows: 10am and 1:30pm; 4/14: 2pm (1st of two shows); 4/15: 5pm Visit: https://destinyarts.org/get-involved/events-calendar/

Bay Area Book Festival April 28-29

The Future is Female at the fourth annual Bay Area Book Festival (BABF) as the popular, internationally recognized two-day celebration of writers, readers and the written word in downtown Berkeley expands its longstanding commitment to the power of women in print with special thematic programing and adds a pre-Festival conversation. BABF has established a new membership group called Women Lit to support programs at the April 28-29 Festival (including a special Women Lit members’ salon at the Festival with leading women authors), present year-round public events and private salons, foster networking and community among Bay Area women, and engage the public around female authors and woman-focused issues and topics: www.baybookfest.org/women-lit-overview/ and www.baybookfest.org/women-lit-about/.The Festival takes place at multiple locations in downtown Berkeley.

SF State’s Going Global Museum opens April 26

San Francisco State has a new venue to showcase its extensive collections of cultural items — including the mummies from the University’s Sutro Egyptian Collection. The Global Museum opens its debut exhibition “Going Global: From San Francisco to the World” on April 26. The admission-free show will remain on display through May 2019.

Three beautifully painted sarcophagus lids will greet visitors in the museum’s main gallery. In an accompanying room opening in the fall, visitors will be able to view the two intact mummies.

In the works since 2014, the Global Museum is 1,922 square feet — nearly double the size of SF State’s old museum. Permanent collections include several thousand items of art and material culture from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Egypt and Oceania, spanning the ancient world to the 20th century. Highlights include the mummy Nes-Per-N-Nub, once a high priest of the Temple of Karnak. His remains occupy a triple-nesting sarcophagus, one of only three in the U.S.

Adolph Sutro, San Francisco mayor in the 1890s, purchased the mummies and displayed them at the Sutro Baths until the mid-1960s. George K. Whitney Jr. donated them to SF State in 1964.

EastSide Arts Jazz Series April 2018

The series begins Friday, April 6, 2018 – 7PM with the incomparable Avotcja as she presents ON THEIR SHOULDERS WE STAND #3: poets and musicians pay homage to the artistic brilliance of our Ancestors, a benefit concert for the Eastside Cultural Center’s Youth Arts Programs featuring some of the Bay Area’s best: THE TROUBLE MAKERS UNION, NANCY HOM, FRANCISCO HERERRA, BILL VARTNAW, BOMBALELE, DUOMUXA aka Marci & Ricardo Valdivieso, THE SALT PEOPLE w/Kaylah Marin, Kevin North, Val Serrant & Henry Mobley, MARIA MEDINA THE WORD WEAVER RUMBERA . . .  and many more

The following week headliner is Marshall Trammell & Warrior Ethos, Friday, April 13, 2018, 7pm – Warrior Ethos: Nommo “a secret, exclusive screening of a fantastic new film focusing on one of our favorite musicians” and discussion session after the film. Saturday, April 14, 2018, 8pm – Warrior Ethos: Listening Sessions – Mutual Aid Project reunion performance.

Closing out the series on April 20-21, 8pm is the legendary David Murray – one of the very best jazz musicians playing, makes a rare Bay Area appearance – coming to EastSide for two nights. Get advance tickets this event will sell out!  All events are held at EastSide Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd, Oakland. For more info at www.eastsideartsalliance.org

Save the Date: May 19,2018 – 11am – 7pm – 18^th annual Malcolm X JazzArts Festival – As we all gather together at this annual festival to regroup, to build, to feed our souls, and to acquire knowledge we embrace the theme for this year’s festival:  A cultural reconstruction for third world self-determination.

John Santos presents:  Puerto Rico Del Alma! (Puerto Rico Soul!)

The collaboration takes place over three workshops, community gatherings at La Pena Cultural Center, April 21, culminating with a concert at SFJAZZ, April 22.

Plena workshop with Taller de Plena con los Maestros:Tito Matos, Juan Gutierrez & Jerry Medina. The workshop will highlight the richness of this popular music form rooted in the rich history, politics and activism shaped by the daily lives of Puerto Rican working class people, Saturday, April 21st, 4:30 – 6:00, La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, $25. Please bring panderetas and güícharos if you can. There will be a limited # to share.

Its main instruments are the pandereta, an Islamic-derived frame drum held in one hand and played with the other, and the güícharo, a gourd scraper of indigenous Taino origin. Three visiting master musicians will conduct this workshop: Juango Gutierrez is the founder and director of the landmark, Grammy-nominated Pleneros de la 21 (NY 1983) that claims the longest history of presenting traditional Puerto Rican Music in the US among active groups. Hector “Tito” Matos is a force of nature as a virtuoso panderetero, founder and director of the powerhouse, Grammy-nominated Viento de Agua (NY/PR 1997), as well as a leader of the movement that has researched and resuscitated the plena among Puerto Rican youth in recent decades. Also participating will be legendary Puerto Rican band leader and vocalist extraordinaire, Jerry Medina, who was a founding member of the iconic group, Batacumbele in 1980.

Saturday evening, April 21, is a Puerto Rico Report / Reportaje de la isla, co-presented by Tito Matos & Defend Puerto Rico, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. also at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. Cost: $15 – $50.  It is also a fundraiser for Tito’s reconstruction work and uplifting of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria that caused such widespread destruction in September of 2017. The other beneficiary is Defend Puerto Rico that is conducting considerable relief work on the island. Tito will give us up-to-the-minute information about the state of the island and the spirit and amazing efforts of the island’s inhabitants, friends and family to survive, resist and rebuild. The Bay Area’s own Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi and Frankie Ramos are intimately connected to this bi-coastal organization. An update on their urgent work will also be presented.

Closing out the weekend is Rhythms of Resistance with The John Santos Sextet with Special Guests, Sunday, April 22, 2:00 at SFJAZZ, 201 Franklin St, San Francisco, (866) 920-5299.

ROBERT MOSES’ KIN presents: DRAFT

Robert Moses hosts an annual project of solo performances of collaborative artists created with brief encounters with the choreographer. This year the program is April 13-14 at 8 p.m. and April 15 at 5 p.m. at Dance Mission, 3316 24^th Street, San Francisco. On this same program, Moses will perform his classic solo work, Blue Guerilla (1995).  I can’t remember the last time I saw Moses dance. This is a rare treat, especially after witnessing the extraordinary work in his 23^rd Annual Season featuring Bootstrap Tales, a work that looked at foster care youth who age out of the system and often end up on the streets of San Francisco and elsewhere. Tickets are $25. To purchase visit Brown Paper Tickets or call: or 800-838-3006 or www.RobertMosesKin.org  https://vimeo.com/groups/contemporarydance/videos/55455443

 

 

 

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/111013-the-arc-of-the-moral-universe-is-long-but-it

[2] britannica.com/art/hip-hop

[3] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/q-a-afrika-bambaataa-spin_n_659614.html

[4] It has been years since I taught classes on Tupac Shakur Legacy: Nature or Nurture/Choice or Destiny; Women in Hip Hop; and the History of Hip Hop. I am rusty (smile).

Happy Birthday Sister Maryom Anna Al Wadi, one of the founders of San Francisco State University’s School of Ethnic Studies and the Black Student Union 50 years ago. Happy Birthday to my nephew Wilfred Batin who I think is a teenager now (smile). Happy Birthday also to Marie Labossiere, An Ezili Danto Warrior Woman! Fierce revolutionary for justice.

On the Fly:
A Bay Area Treasure, I don’t know how Avotcja does it all: host two radio shows, perform with her band Modupue and curate such a phenomenal series of poetry and storytelling events. Yet she does and has for more years than we have fingers and toes. This is why, though I appreciated and loved “Beloved Oakland,” one of a series of programs last month EastSide Arts Alliance hosted to promote the conversation regarding the Black Culture Zone (BCZ) in East Oakland, I think two culture workers were left out: Avotcja and Paradise. I would not have excluded any of the awardees; however, to omit Avotcja is like forgetting to bow to the Queen (as in Califa not Victoria). And Paradise? It was his birthday (2/18) and his poem made the City of Oakland change the signs from “Entering Oakland” to “Welcome to Oakland.”  I am just saying. RESPECT!

Avotcja Events
March 21st 2018 at her Annual Healing Evening of Poetry, Jazz and the Fire of Wordsong with members of Avotcja & Modupue at City College of SF, 50 Phelan Avenue, Creative Arts 133, San Francisco, CA 94112 (a 10 minute walk from Balboa BART), 6:30PM   NO COVER, ALL AGES ALWAYS WELCOME, For more info:  (415)239-3000, see: www.ccsf.edu or www.Avotcja.org

Avotcja’s monthly series La Palabra Musical, Music of the Word, at Cesar Chavez Library, 3301 East 12th Street @ 33rd Avenue, in Oakland is March 24^th and looks this month at, PODER DE MUJER / WOMAN POWER. The program which is both featured artists and open mic begins at 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. It’s free.  For information call: (510)535-5620 or visit http://oaklandlibrary.org/locations/cesar-e-chavez-branch  or www.Avotcja.org

Every Saturday in March Celebrates Women at Joyce Gordon Gallery

Sat., March 17, 2-4 p.m., join Wanda Sabir in her work: Choreographing Diaspora: An Afternoon of Poetry, Visual Art, Travel and Storytelling  at JGC 406 14^th Street in Oakland.  For information call: (510) 465-8928 or visit www.JoyceGordonGallery.com

An Evening with Michelle Obama at the Oracle March 28 in Oakland
Too Expensive, but if anyone has tickets, I’d love to go and take a photographer. Let me know:

African Film Festival at BAMPFA kicks off March 8-May 6
Visit https://bampfa.org/program/african-film-festival-2018

African American Shakes presents: Tennessee Williams: A Street Car Named Desire March 4-18 at Marines Memorial Theatre in SF
Visit http://www.african-americanshakes.org/productions/a-streetcar-named-desire/

Ubuntu Theatre Company continue its “House Divided” theme with Marcus Gardley’s “Dance of the Holy Ghosts” March 9-31. Visit http://www.ubuntutheaterproject.com/2018-shows/

Diamano Coura West African Dance Company present: the 23^rd Annual Collage des Cultures Africaines: Migration Stories: Our Histories and the Healing of Our People

March 8-11 are workshops and classes and a book reading. Saturday, March 10, 8 p.m. at Laney College, 900 Fallon Street (at Ninth) is the performance showcase.  Visit diamanocoura.org for the entire schedule or call (510) 459-2426.  The dance classes and book reading are at the Malonga Casquelourd Center For the Arts, 1428 Alice Street, Oakland.

Rhonda Benin’s “Just Like a Woman”

For the sixth continuous year, the tour de force that is vocalist Rhonda Benin, celebrate Women’s History Month with her concert show, JUST LIKE A WOMAN.  This year’s stellar lineup features a much anticipated reunion of two pioneers of Women’s Music, Holly Near and Linda Tillery; blues artist EC Scott; neo soul/jazz artist Kimiko Joy; youth artists Lyla Neely and Maya Parades-Hernandez; producer/singer Rhonda Benin; backed by music director Tammy Lynn Hall & The Lillian Armstrong Tribute Band.  Peralta College Community radio personality Flo Wiley is host/emcee at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison, Berkeley, (510) 644-2020.  Tickets are $25 in advance and $27 at the door; www.tinyurl.com/JLAW2018

Edgar Arceneaux “Library of Lies” and “Until, Until Until . . .” at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts through March 25, Asks the Question: Is Truth Furniture in a Dominant Narrative Structure

In February, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Edgar Arceneaux presented a performance piece in connection with an installation “Library of Lies.”  The wooden labyrinth cabin-like structure is filled with bookshelves and books.  Some books are wrapped in black plastic, more interesting books are covered in crystalized sugar. As we look at crystalized confections, our moves reflected in mirrors—the shelves are caught in a maze making t is hard to figure out which stacks were visited and which were not. The only books with any certainty were the books with Bill Cosby’s face on the covers.

Just the name, “Library of Lies,” (through March 25 at YBCA) makes the patron fact check her thoughts . . . just in case. Several years ago, Arceneaux, who is an artist whose work is not confined to one genre—theatre, mixed media, architecture, writing, watched a performance by Ben Vereen at Ronald Reagan’s Inauguration at the White House. It was a tribute to vaudeville legend Bert Williams (1874–1922). In blackface, Vereen sang ““Waiting for Robert E. Lee,” and then sang another song, “Nobody “ as he removed the paint. The only problem was, the ABC network just aired the first half which distorted Vereen’s intention and message. The response from Black community was outrage. Vereen was called a sellout and a “Tom.” It was a horrible time for the artist whose work, had audiences seen the entire piece would have realized he was not insulting Williams’s legacy or memory.

Silence or omission is just as bad as an outright lie. When Vereen learned about the project he was supportive and even invited the artist who was to portray him to his home to help him with the dance.

In Until, Until, Until . . . (2015-17) the actor, Frank Lawson, looks just like Vereen. The work is more than a re-creation of an historic moment. The live-action play and immersive multimedia art installation gives audiences a chance to query a particular historic moment from multiple perspectives: the present, the past, Vereen’s and the audience at the White House that evening.

As cameras document the rehearsal and later the performance we see multiple Vereens performing; the effect is past and present merging. This is one of the many beautiful moments in an emotionally disturbing work. Perspective is key, as is memory. Is Vereen’s correct or the camera? What about the viewers who just saw the ABC rebroadcast with Vereen as Bert Williams singing “Waiting for Robert E. Lee” in blackface? The TV audience think they have the truth when we see they did not. If this is just one of many instances when fake news distorts or changes reality irreversibly, we see how fragile information is and how easily it can be changed intentionally. The lie becomes the truth. (Sounds like Orwell’s Ministry of Information in “1984”. Facts are shredded; yesterday does not exist if it does not serve the state’s interests).

“Vereen’s biting commentary on the history of segregation and racist stereotypes in performance was lost on viewers at home” (press notes). When the scene with Williams singing “Nobody” as he removes the black paint is omitted, we lose important commentary and Vereen loses his credibility.

Before the curtain rises, there are free cocktails. Vereen at the bar helps serve. When the lights go up—the lounge becomes a stage where Vereen is rehearsing his steps— Arceneaux says later it is Vereen’s memory telling him to speak more convincingly.  There are empty chairs on stage which the audience later fills – not enough for everyone, others stand, some with drinks in hand.  Guests at the White House we look out into the empty audience; we now a part of the spectacle. We watch Vereen sit at his dressing table, we see the makeup come off, watch him rise, speak, sob . . . tears streaming down the actor’s face and then he walks off.  There is silence. He doesn’t return.  We sit and wonder. We look around confused. Is the performance over? Where are the directions for this part? Why are the cameras still rolling?

Conversation:  YBCA presents an evening of lively conversation between two longtime friends and collaborators, artist Edgar Arceneaux and art historian Julian Myers-Szupinska on Friday, March 16, 7 p.m. in the YBCA Screening Room, .  Admission is free with same day gallery admission

Venturing far beyond mere observation or criticism of the works presented in the exhibition, they will discuss the nature of their artist-historian collaboration and deliver a fresh look at their shared world of art. Using as a point of departure a small but charged set of historical and popular archival images, film clips, writings, and music, they will share their insights on the ideas and themes embedded in these objects and ephemera.

While there don’t miss another exhibit also in the lower gallery:  Yishai Jusidman, a Mexican artist of Jewish heritage’s “Prussian Blue”  https://ybca.org/whats-on/yishai-jusidman

Yishai Jusidman’s Prussian Blue is a series of paintings rendered almost exclusively in one of the earliest artificially developed pigments used by European painters—Prussian Blue. The chemical compound that makes up this pigment happens to be related to the Prussic acid in Zyklon B, the poisonous product deployed at some of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps. By a strange turn, traces of the pigment remain to this day in the walls of the gas chambers. Such stains are quiet, disturbing, and palpable reminders which Jusidman’s paintings re-engage with a profound effect.

This exhibition is organized by Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City, and is making its United States debut at YBCA.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is located at 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, Tix: 415-978-2787, boxoffice@ybca.org

Interview

Wanda Sabir:  Could you please address the reason why you felt compelled to present the complete story, to exonerate the name of fellow artist, Ben Vereen?

Edgar Arceneaux: “The intentional omission of the second part of the tribute foreshadows a future parade of partial truths normalized in a society where the truth has multiple lives, all of them irrelevant. I am speaking specifically of Trump, but “fake news” is not new. “​

EA:  “I was compelled to make [Until, Until, Until . . .] because of a coincidence really. I was commissioned to do a performance by Performa out of NYC and thought I had an idea for what I could do. But then I ran into Ben at a kid’s birthday party. I mention that I was not invited to the party partially as a joke, and that it’s also true. I was not invited nor had any idea there was such a party, yet there I was in front a man that had done one of the most memorable works of performance I had ever seen in my life. I thought that if serendipity was showing me something that I should pursue it and see where it leads. Once I learned about the effects that his performance of ‘Nobody’ had on his life and career, I was struck with a risky opportunity and a burden. If I told his story the way in which it was intended to be seen, would I suffer the same fate as Ben? He made me promise that I wouldn’t allow that to ever happen to him again, and with a resolute heart I said “I promise.”

WS:  What does Vereen say about the re-staging, screening of his full-work, as well as the sculpture — “Library of Black Lies” (2016) where you say the intentional maze or labyrinth is an opportunity to “find what is lost [in oneself].”

EA:  “Ben Vereen has not seen the library and black lies yet and I’m uncertain if he is even aware of it. But he was quite moved to see the performance for the first time in Los Angeles this past summer. He expressed his gratitude and also offered to work with my actor Frank Lawson on some of the dancer’s moves, which we did, two days later and it was surreal to watch the past in the present colliding on stage.”

WS:  Why did you find it necessary to catalog and present the Lies with such formality (smile).

Who gets access to Black Lies? Who operated the facility? Where does one get a card? How are Black Lies and artifacts arranged? Is it a circulating space? If so, how long can a patron check out a Black Lie?

EA:  “​Great Questions. The black lies are more metaphorical then literal. The term is meant to be poetic, [except] in some specific instances, like Cosby as being about misdeeds and criminality. What do we do with the Cosby show now? ​Can we separate the art from the man?

“Within the narrative of the library, and who owns it, I meant it to feel like a cabin in the woods meeting a geode. Wanted to builder to remain a mystery so you could image who the person might have been who built it, based on what’s left behind, and how its organized. Along the way, within the labyrinth library, or labyrinth, you get lost along the way so you can find yourself in the middle. Both the self-reflected in the mirror and our shadow side.”

WS:  Is everything we read a Black Lie? Who is your archivist? Is the Library Growing? If so, how can one contribute? ​addressed above. ​

I am also really interested in the sugar metaphor. As black people, “sugar” is both traded and treasured like salt. Both are detrimental to our health once we land on these shores: sugar diabetes and hypertention. (Vereen has diabetes.) My father died from renal failure, another one of those environmental toxins — present traumatic slavery syndrome).

EA:  “Oddly enough. I didn’t start w the sociological effects of sugar or its metaphors. I began working with sugar close to 15 years ago because I was looking for material that could exists in multiple states simultaneously. Sugar can exist as a granule and a liquid gelatin or crystal. I was excited about the Crystal because it has geometry to it. Not all sugars are sweet. And it exist as a basic building block of ourselves, the cells in our body. The power of juxtaposition is that when you put two things together that are unrelated they begin to say things, things that they would not on their own.

“When I juxtaposed [sugar] to history and in particular African-American history, you begin to come to some of the conclusions would you described above. As an artist I rely on their prior knowledge that I believe if you were will bring to it. But it’s my job to pivot on what you know to explore something that you may not have considered. The destruction of the book renders it unreadable or readable but the crystals give it a new life. Not just an aesthetic life, but the crystals themselves express a paradox. We consider crystals to be frozen in time but in reality they actually grow organically like the roots of a tree. So well after the crystals are dried they can still inhale and exhale the moisture in the room.

“This is the metaphor of transformation but in what direction is the question. Between the states of building and destruction there is an in between the crystals on the books is that in between. Is the viewer’s job to decide where that’s going. Building up or falling down, is it a ruined or a beautiful transformation; I hope that the viewer can possess both of those things hold them up side-by-side and consider that they are both simultaneously. Does that seem perplexing to want that as a goal for a work of art?”

WS: The work suggests a fragmentation, what Dubois calls “double consciousness” or a split or auteur self, which black people tend to send ahead (the facsimile more welcome that the woman or man. Please talk about The Library and how you conceived it and its integration into “Unil Until Until.”

EA:   “These are two separate words that I was developing at the same time. Both use mirrors and reflections refracture transparency and partial views as a way of exploring history. In the library I am doing this with architecture. With Until Until Until I’m doing it with narrative in the format of play and an art installation.

“Both works are meant to envelop the viewer and transform them from the beginning and the end of the experience. This has less to do with the notion of a double consciousness and more to do with the journey of self-exploration that could if intended explore the perils of a dual identity. I hope and both works to show a Third World beyond the dualistic thinking.”

WS:  There is an intention structured into your work, which mirrors Vereen’s intention in honoring vaudeville legend Bert Williams (1874–1922), a man many African Americans were ashamed of. What does Bert Williams mean to you, an African American performance and visual artist? Juxtapose this with Ben Vereen, “Chicken George,” juju man, Ifa warrior like Williams who made it work, despite the hostilities he faced in Hollywood? If black men are characters, where are they safe when not performing?

EA:  “There’s a lot in those questions. During the lifetime of Brett Williams I am not convinced that people were ashamed of him. He was one of the most celebrated performers [or] entertainers and an all America. He produced his own films and in some instances none of the black actors besides himself in black face. You know that’s what audiences wanted but no one else had to wear a black face. That’s how he got his movies made.”

More Theatre

Charles Peoples III is back in Theatre Rhinoceros’s World Premiere of “Transitions” written and directed by John Fisher at the Gateway Theatre, 215 Jackson St. (at Battery St.) in San Francisco.  Last seen in The Legend of Pink as Pink, this time the intrigue thickens as a Russian President, an American President and a drag queen (Peoples as Ruby) are the stars of this story about gender and sexuality in the world of geopolitics. A surprising relationship between a young Republican and a no-nonsense drag queen almost set the world on fire. But in a moment of international crisis this romance might just save the planet, as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are about to find out. A satirical drama ripped from the world’s headlines in the tradition of filmmakers Billy Wilder and Oliver Stone.

The show is up through March 17. Visit www.TheRhino.org  Listen to an interview with Charles on Wanda’s Picks Radio.

Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko’s “They/Them”

Those Women Productions presents: Shifting Spaces which features the world premiere of They/Them, an intensely moving and lyrical drama about a transgender teen fighting for their mother’s love. They/Them is by Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko, Tanzanian, now an East Bay resident, Nick’s Waafrika 123, a new full-length play set in Kenya about “two queers who are not allowed to exist,” at TheatreFirst 5/3-6/2/2018. They/Them is directed by TWP Associate Artist Norman Patrick Johnson.

The three plays of Shifting Spaces: “They/Them,” “vessels,” and “Revelations,” reflect a wide spectrum of feminist perspectives. Each tells a unique story in a bold and captivating voice. Stylistically very different, they all feature characters who fight passionately for and believe courageously in their right to be themselves.

Shifting Spaces will be up March 23 to April 8. It plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through April 8 (no performance on Easter Sunday, April 1) at the Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley.

Those Women Productions is committed to a policy of “Radical Hospitality,” making theater accessible to audiences regardless of ability to pay. Prices range from $00.00 to $35.00. Tickets are available at the door and through Brown Paper Tickets: shiftingspaces.brownpapertickets.com/

Brava and BACCE present: House/Full of Blackwomen: AfroNOW — balance on the brink, Thursday, March 15, 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at Brava Theater Center Cabaret 2781 24th Street San Francisco

Hosts choreographer Amara Tabor Smith, director Ellen Sebastian Chang, multi-media artist Alexa C. Burell (aka LEXAGON), and somatic scholar Amber McZeal invite you to explore an evening in act(ions) of resiliency, rejoicing, rejuvenation through an interactive experience of conversational questioning inspired by Octavia Butler, Audre Lourde and Toni Cade Bambara, multi-media, Afropunk and wellness. Come prepared to move, sing and create.

Tickets are: $10 – $25 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds (subject to availability)

Saturdays @ AAMLO for Women’s History Month
2018 Theme:  “Nevertheless, She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.”

All programs which are free start at 2 p.m.  At AAMLO, 659 14th STREET, OAKLAND. For more information, contact 510.637.0200, or aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org.

Featured presenters are Lise Pearlman (3/3); Careth Reid (3/10), Halifu Osumare (3/17); Oakland City Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney (3/24)

BETWEEN US @ TheatreFirst at Live Oak Park Theatre, through March 10. 

Program A: LAVEAU: A Conjuring of Marie Laveau by Brit Frazier, directed by Margo Hall, Dezi Solèy / Marie Laveau Visit: http://theatrefirst.com/between-us/laveau/ Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, (510) 981-8150.

Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm’s Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies West Coast World Premiere at Custom Made Theatre in SF

Custom Made Theatre presents: The West Coast premiere of Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies, playwright, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm’s timely, irreverent examination of growing up black in America. Directed by Lisa Marie Rollins, with Brit Frazier as dramaturg. CMT is located at 533 Sutter Street in San Francisco.  Shows are March 8, 9, 10 at 8:00 pm; Opening Night: March 11, 7:00 pm; runs through March 31. Thurs-Sat 8:00 pm, Saturday matinees March 24 & 31 – 2:00 pm. Tickets: $25-42. Call (415) 798-2682, custommade.org

Professor Anita Hill headlines Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series

ANITA HILL is featured speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Saturday, March 10, 7pm at the Oakland City Center Marriott Hotel.  To RSVP for this free event, call 510 434 3988.

Professor Hill has contributed greatly to equality and democracy in America. While she is known for her testimony in the United States Congress during sexual harassment hearings concerning Judge Clarence Thomas, she has devoted her career through research, writing, and advocacy in connection with women’s civil rights and women’s equitable inclusion in economic and political participation.

December 2017, Professor Hill became Chair of the Commission on Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace. The commission’s focus is on sexual mistreatment and inequality in the entertainment industry.

Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau @ TheatreFirst in Berkeley through 3/10
An Interview with Brit Frazier, playwright

Dezi Soley is a woman to watch. She gets it right every time.  A goddess certainly, but the kind who walks among us – the characters she embodies as great as the imaginations which birth them—Star Finch and now, Brit Frazier’s LAVEAU: A Conjuring of Marie Laveau, directed by Margo Hall starring Dezi Solèy as Marie Laveau. Recently seen in Alter Theatre Company’s “Bondage,” the Haitian actor is still in the kitchen stirring the broth, this time as chief cook, Madame Marie Laveau. When one thinks conjure woman, Mambo, look no farther that this Louisiana Gumbo Ya-Ya, Spirit Worker.

Frazier’s new work which opens Program A of Between Us at TheatreFirst, once again, Jon Tracy, TF Artistic  Director, has done it again.  TF is the place where discourse around difficult topics like race, class, politics are encouraged.  These 7 new commissions in repertory are amazing.

The situation of the Laveau piece as the opening chapter is fitting.  Laveau says: “Words are spells, incantations.”  We are what we think, so spirit is self-articulated.  Make sure your thesaurus is open so you can choose precisely.  Laveau tells black women to breathe and let go of a lexicon which has not served us.  Yes, from the stage, the mambo speaks to us.  Where else than at TheatreFirst can one see this kind of work?

On a breezy, lovely Berkeley Sunday afternoon, Brit was kind of in a daze after the warm reception—the work, her work is so magnificent.  She is truly a vehicle for a story we all need to not just hear, but represent—Laveau’s humor and fearlessness is contagious.  Imagine a sorority of Laveau Daughters from the Bay? Brit says when she encountered the Voodoo Woman, enchantress, healer, she wanted to tell her story.  Her Laveau appears vivacious, fun yet reverent.  She has come to set the record straight.  There are too many misconceptions, so bring pens and notebooks.  Laveau is a lesson.

The character admits some people fear her, while others love her.  A scientist, she knows her spells and incantations work, and if her directions are followed precisely, results are guaranteed.  I like that kind of certainty.

An abolitionist, Laveau freed many African Diaspora kinsmen and women.  On stage she pours libations on the many altars assembled as she honors her ancestors and deities who helped her with important work—her primary role was to free her people. She talks about the duppies or sleepwalkers and her reach beyond the grave.

Laveau might laugh, but make no mistake, she is a powerful woman.

An altar dominates the room where Laveau performs her prayers and rituals. Dressed in ceremonial white, we see her shadow dancing behind a curtain as projected images cover a screen ending with Laveau’s portrait.  As she honors her ancestors and prays throughout the work, Laveau sprinkles juicy tidbits about her life between a song or an offering.  She speaks of marriage, divorce, slavery, African deities and spiritual practices.

Solèy’s work as a dancer is evident here. One wonders if the playwright has Dezi in mind as her character evolved.  The actress is such a perfect fit. Even though the work is theatre, the ceremony is real. What Brit’s “Laveau” says is both an affirmation and a word to the wise.

The conjure woman’s magic and spells to keep black women, black mothers, black girls safe— We can see this ideological work in the artistic work of two Bay Area conjure women, Amara Tabour-Smith and Ellen Sebastian Chang’s Housefull of Black Women Project. Housefull looks at how enormous a task it is to be a black woman, to walk in our shoes. Smith and Chang have developed creative queries called “episodes.” The series of episodic moments within a discourse unpack the ever shifting dynamic: black women vs. the rest of the world.

The February “Housefull” episode was passing/through/the great middle. Tabour-Smith et al had audiences look at what it means to lose a child—sexual violation and the cost of refusal.  The work examined what was left – the words that remain after the body is no more. As she called these spirits from slave ships or in slave quarters or working in the field . . . into the room there was a hush—something holy was passing over.  Similar to the masque, a woman dressed in bones walked among us– bones knocking against other bones; rattling, touching us as Egungun or ancestors danced—

Spirit women sang, played music—took us to holy gatherings under sanctified rooftops. We were told to grab hands as we looked for a lost letter, walked down the street into an alley where blood was being washed away only to reappear just as the story recycled.

This episode (as had so many others) took place at EastSide Arts Cultural Center located on a busy thoroughfare in East Oakland (23rd Avenue and International).  Before we went down an alley around the corner, we stepped into a sanctified space where Obeah, Juju Conjurers, Mambo women sat on pillows singing – admonishing, laughing and telling plenty lies.  Also in the room were altars in a variety of sizes to the Orisha: Yemanja, Oya, Esu Legba. I didn’t see Oṣun, but she was probably there. The space was tight and people let go of each other’s hands.

We then left for another leg of the journey, the final stop outside where obeah women sat on benches while others washed a white cloth.  It was a ritual washing, choreographed to the rhythm of the storyteller—Amara’s voice.  She told the same horrible story three times. Each time she reminded us that the story was true. This was the hardest to witness and then leave. We were offered a cookie as we made our way back to the theatre singing “Wade in the Water.” Some of the women didn’t make it across – others stopped singing. The silence was worse than the story we could not forget, the story of the child beaten to death because she refused to relinquish her rights to her body.

This “House/Full” episode was about embodiment and how frightening this concept is to captors who tried to beat it out of the girl and failed.  That night we heard stories. Words spoken like maps tracing our way back home.  Back in the theatre, a film shot on the beach reiterated those same words. Poetic, the repetition was comforting.

This is the place Frazier’s “Laveau” also occupies. This is the place Star Finch’s “Bondage” occupies. In “Bondage,” Dezi Solèy, as mixed-race “Zuri,” is a slave girl who would kill all captors before she relinquished rights to her body.  We also see Dezi in a more contemporary work, directed by Frazier in TheatreFirst’s “Participants: Star Finch’s “Take the Ticket.” The work explores how white theatre artists thematically exploit black pain.

All of these black women characters (and to a certain extent their creators) realize there is no place in the world for them—unacknowledged, they pose a very real danger. Nonetheless, just because acknowledgement is refused does not mean black women are not present and can, if she chooses, dismantle the wall or better yet redo the entire cosmos.

All black women should see Brit Frazier’s “Laveau,” up through March 10 at TF at Live Oak Park Theatre in Berkeley.  Tickets are going fast.  Laveau is an opportunity to leave the baggage behind. It is already too heavy, besides Marie Laveau reminds us, the sh– is not even ours.

Don’t forget to check the tags before exiting the airport or train station.  Just as I thought, the tags are wrong.

I had an opportunity to interview the playwright, Brit Frazier, a fierce black woman in front of and behind the curtain.  She definitely has the ear of the Orisha or black deities.  Ashay, Ashay, Ashayo! The conversation here is insight into the play, answers to questions posed in the review and more.

I also have links to two Wanda’s Picks Radio interviews, one Friday, March 2, 2018 with Dezi Solèy, actress, and director, Margo Hall, plus an interview from the archives (09/09/2011) with one of Brit’s primary sources, writer, Jewell Parker Rhodes.

The Interview

Wanda Sabir:  What is your fascination with Madam Laveau?

Brit Frazier:  “I wouldn’t call it fascination, it’s more reverence. I recognize her power and honor her work. She died supposedly over 100 years ago and is still as potent energetically now as she seemed to be in her time. She is an example of a pillar of spiritual strength, and an unapologetic, fearless vessel of the feminine divine.”

WS: Why is she the vehicle for a celebration of Black Life and Black Women?

BF:  “She was a healer, a root worker, an abolitionist and a juggernaut in the fight to create and protect space for Black People to worship and experience catharsis in the midst of brutality against their bodies, family structures and worth. She realized black love, black procreation, was important; so along with healing and freeing black bodies, she saw to it that our existence wasn’t whipped away by cruelty, she made sure black People had the time, space and security to know love as well.”

WS: The work is a libation for African Ancestors of the Middle Passage. Talk about the symbolism and ritual items from altars to white garment, projected images, dance . . . songs.

BF: “The color white is owned by Obatala in Santeria and Damballah in Voodoo. Both deities bless our consciousness, they are representations of The Mist High in our thinking. The whole piece surrounds the idea of cleansing the consciousness. Laveau mixes a spiritual “white bath” onstage, traditionally used to cleanse the body and spirit of lower energies, negative influences. Ritual and repetition help us to access that which has been stolen, lost or forgotten.”

WS: There is history and a dismantling of lies and mythology associated with this roots woman Voodoo Queen. Talk about your research and how the material chosen made it to the stage and what spells did not (smile).

BF:  “My research involved a mixture of reading, introspection and listening to Marie Laveau guide me through her tribute. There is soo much information about her and her daughters and at the same time so little. Deciphering between truth and lies came from listening to her. I read a few books but two that stuck out were Jewel Parker Rhodes’s “Voodoo Dreams” which is a beautifully rich  “fiction,” but has a lot of fact weaved in and the other “Voodoo Queen” by Martha Ward, which is nonfiction and gives a really extensive account of what Antebellum New Orleans was like.

“Ward also does a lot of research finding old legal documents, articles and interviews about the Laveau’s themselves and their rituals that helped me shape the piece. I ended up cutting a lot of the history around her best friend , priest of St. Louise Cathedral and former leader if the Spanish Inquisition, St. Antoine aka Father Sedella and Marie Laveau’s the 1st, second husband ( a white man , who legally changed his race , gave up his privilege  to marry her)Christophe de Galpion because I only had so much stage time and two ,we, Marie and I, felt it important to highlight the strength, power and resilience of Black Women… men are great, don’t get me wrong… friends are great but they were cut from this particular iteration.

“Ward includes spells in the book, one of which is supposed to be one Laveau’s most powerful spells to ward off injustice . . . it’s a revenge spell. I didn’t use it, because I have feelings around Ward including the spell in her book in the first place (it’s nothing to play with) and two, this piece isn’t about revenge, it’s about self-preservation and believing as black women that we have the power to do practice that conjure, and see results, watch the blessings show up in our lives.”

WS: You have not been to NOLA or Haiti, two places where Voodun is a national religion, not to mention West Africa in Yorubaland.

BF:  “Nope. I’ve never been except in my mind.”

WS:  What have you learned about African spirituality in the writing of this mythical character and what lingers with you now that she is fully formed?

BF:  “I had knowledge of Yoruba and Santeria religions [developed in the Diaspora] before knowing Laveau or starting this piece. . . .  This experience was more about finding her in me. She isn’t a mythical character, she is very real. I learned a lot and was inspired by her unapologetic strength.”

WS:  You have shattered the 4th wall. What is your vision for the future of staged work? Talk aesthetic, respect, ethics, voice, content, authenticity, honesty, ownership

BF:  “I’m not sure. I just know I’m interested in performance ritual… I feel entertainment especially now has been charged energetically/spiritually with ushering in a new consciousness. . . . I just wanna do that work.”

WS:  As the pieces right themselves and artists rethink their processes, what would you like your audiences to take away from this experience?
BF:  “Black resilience and the will “to conjure themselves clean.”

WS:  What are Laveau and Big Mama whispering to you right now?

BF:  “Be easier on yourself Brit. You are magical, gifted and fragile… and worthy. REPEAT AFTER ME, YOU ARE WORTHY! “

WS: Talk about your director, actress, and design team . . . did they make Brit’s vision come true?

BF:  “Margo Hall (director) is amazing at everything, she really helped me activate the piece. My biggest fear writing it, was that it would turn out didactic and visually boring. It’s anything but, in my opinion. Margo is a blessing. Dezi Solèy (actress) is a Queen. She herself is a very powerful bruja . . . . I felt it as soon as I met her, she brings light everywhere she goes and isn’t afraid to drop the performance and spiritually attune. The design team are the most patient and giving people ever!!! I think of them like the nurses in the delivery room, they helped clean my baby, make sure she was healthy and vibrant… I’m so thankful for the Love and care they wrapped [me and Queen Laveau] in.”

WS: What’s next? Margo said you have a longer play written. Are plans in the works for a run? Where are you performing next?

BF:  “I don’t know… maybe a short? Black noire, shot in New Orleans in Congo Square, on Lake Pontchartrain and in Laveau’s old house and at her gravesite; Featuring dancers, real ritual work, and drummers; shot out of order , highlighting ritual imagery. I don’t know… but I can dream. The piece presented at TheatreFirst is eleven pages, the full piece is around twenty five pages. . . . I don’t know what is next.

“My next gig is Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm’s “Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies,” March 8-31, at Custom Made Theatre, (415) 798-CMTC (2682), 533 Sutter Street, in San Francisco in which I’m am Assistant Director and Dramaturg and my next acting opportunity is with Campo Santo called “Casa De Spirts” at YBCA, May 16-17, written and directed by Rodger Guinevere Smith.”

Black Panther: A Reflection on Cultural Solidarity and Historic Debt  (spoiler alert)

King T’Challa, the revered “Black Panther,” allows himself to be used to further the cause of white supremacy in this heralded chapter of the Marvel comic series.  Depth is not a part of T’Challa’s DNA. We see early on how a pretty face distracts him to the point that Okoye, head of the Dora Milaje (actress Danai Gurira), the all-female special forces of Wakanda, disobeys orders and follows him on a rescue mission, just in case.  Let’s just say, her services are needed.

To expect T’Challa to do what is right by his estranged brother N’Jakada is a stretch. Despite knowing his identity, the king doesn’t show the warrior bearing gifts any warmth. N’Jakada does what he was unable to do, stop a known threat—the enemy’s skull in his hand which he throws toward the throne.

(For those who are unfamiliar with the Marvel comic series and previous adventure: Captain America: Civil War in which T’Challa’s father King T’Chaka is killed. This precipitates T’Challa’s return to Wakanda where dirty laundry is aired and then shredded.

While new writers certainly have taken control of the narrative that is T’Challa/Black Panther, his Avenger baggage follows and points him in politically unsavory directions for Marvel series sake. This is why we see Captain America (Winter Soldier) waking up in Wakanda (guest of Black Panther). This foreshadows a major battle in store for Wakanda in the next episode: Avengers: Infinity War, in theatres May 2018.

As the credits roll we see Black Panther comrades, Black Widow and Falcon, from “Civil War” hiding out in Wakanda. All are on the run and wanted by the US government and maybe the United Nations. See Vox.  Interestingly, T’Challa plays both political ends with his relationship with CIA agent Everett K. Ross (actor Martin Freeman).  One wonders how he maintains trust.

But back to the story at hand, for all the “Black Panther” hype, the film’s attempts at depth within the parameters of Disney and Marvel are still wanting.  The framework is just not something created by us. Writer, director Ryan Coogler and co-writer, Joe Robert Cole, actors and other artists associated with the work are allowed only certain tools—yes it is beautiful, yes there are important lessons and values shared, yes, it is certainly has moments where audiences cheer.  With all this going for it, shouldn’t the sky be the limit? Yet the Marvel comic universe had Black Panther (character and story) tethered. How else can anyone explain how or why the leader of the world’s mightiest, technologically superior nation, has to play by a set of rules which deny his humanity and cause him to kill his brother? And remember, by playing by their rules, he loses his father.

Sometimes separation is better than integration and certainly assimilation.

In reflecting on the story, which is complex. I listened to the soundtrack and read the annotations in the margins, which gave context to some of what I saw on screen and background on characters whom I’d just met in the story. There is a lot left unsaid; however, ultimately, the Wakanda we meet is not palatable to a Diaspora native who has had a different experience with colonialism. Those who sell out their people to the highest bidder do not have the same relationship with the power-broker that the 99 percent have. Our response is not patient or conciliatory—it is about chopping off heads and taking no prisoners. I am speaking philosophically here as warfare is more spiritual than physical.  We are so powerful, we can think the enemy into his grave.

Juju positioned in the right place is guaranteed to cure all ills, especially those of soul.  If you have not seen Brit Frazier’s “LAVEAU: A Conjuring of Marie Laveau” (Program A Friday-Sunday) at TheatreFirst in Berkeley, through March 10, do not miss it.  In this wonderful work, directed by Margo Hall and embodied by Dezi Solèy, we meet one of New Orleans medicine women, Voodoo Queen. She stirs broths, introduces prayers and blesses the house as we find ourselves drawn into stories of liberation, healing and sacrifice. Brit says: “During the pre-civil war antebellum south, the voodoo queen Marie Laveau built and preserved space for Africans to worship their religion openly and to practice black joy freely. Now, in the midst of present day black genocide, Laveau is conjured to empower a spiritual revolution where Black Lives Matter and the Black Woman is God.”

I think N’Jakada would have appreciated Madame Laveau and she could have helped him cool the rage and manage his anger in a more healthy way. We who are African know what is visible is not all. The physical manifestation is minuscule compared to the actual loss in lives over time. The colonizers think strategically and have been in place for centuries. Imagine, the uranium used to bomb Japan came from ore in Congo. Black liberation globally is just white imperialism gone underground. There is a reason why Wakanda intentionally kept itself off the map. However, spies are everywhere and eventually what is hidden will eventually come to light. This is not to say, Wakanda’s refusal to help neighboring countries or Diaspora Wakandans was correct. It was just a selfish part of a plan which has now imploded—probably another episode in the Marvel comic universe. But I digress we were speaking of Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Panther” Soundtrack.

In Paramedic [Intro: Zacari; Kendrick Lamar] N’Jakada says:

“I am Killmonger

No one’s perfect

She can be your best friend when you decide to work cialis without with her, but your worst “energy” should you decide to work against her. Heroin cialis for sale canada damages the brain first, then moves on to the heart and lungs.The majority of heroin addicts never break the addiction and overdose. In case, you are depressed, seek medical help and get best levitra price icks.org it recovered. The cause and intensity of ED has cialis online cheapest existed in the human society since the historic ages. But no one’s worthless

We ain’t deservin’ of everything Heaven and Earth is

But word is, good, (this is my home)

Said no one’s perfect, but no ones worth this

We ain’t deservin’ of everything heaven and Earth is

But word is, good (Northern California). ”

T’Challa tries to silence N’Jakada, also known as Killmonger to the rest of the known world.  Unmasked—T’Challa meets his equal in the man facing him.  Perhaps this is why he doesn’t greet or allow his guest to say his name.

It is still such an insult when T’Challa knows royalty stands before him—Granted brotherman has a rough exterior. It’s been 500+ years; kinda hard to erase the vestiges . . . stains permeate psyche . . . other stains are just hard to erase from garments meant to last just one lifetime, not several.  The persona is still tarnished by centuries of survival in the worse conditions—slavery, Jim Crow, structural racism and state violence.  The man on the throne grudgingly recognizes himself in his brother’s eyes—N’Jakada is the son of Road Dog Warrior N’Jobu on a secret mission in Oaktown when he is killed many years ago.

Chadwick Boseman who portrays T’Challa says the character is an antagonist and is the enemy of Diaspora Africans. The prince, then king, lives in his supremacist bubble where power is his elixir and tonic of choice. He hangs out with other powerful people –  race unimportant as long as they are powerful and do not disturb his way of life.  The game he plays with others is not lost on N’Jakada (Michael B. Jordan) who when he cannot kill him refuses second thoughts or a halfhearted gesture and sentencing to imprisonment.  Instead N’Jakada tells his cousin he can toss his ashes on the ocean where his African ancestors’ bones line the bottom of the sea.

Was there a way for T’Challa to spare his cousin’s life and not lose his own? The riff between Africa and Diaspora Africans is so large – great compassion, love and forgiveness is the bridge necessary to cross the divide. Perhaps if N’Jadaka Erik Steven and T’Challa had had a bit more time the two men might have found a compromise.  However, given the shallowness of Black Panther’s response to external pressure to share Wakanda’s rich reserves with others in the Diaspora not to mention Continental Africa. . . . . Well?  He is Black Panther in a nouveaux Peacock Chair making deals with the CIA! I am like hold up?! Are you out of your mind? This must be a slapstick thrown in to distract and confuse the audience who do not know their history and who probably believe it’s okay to share secrets with the US government. Like Okoyo, the CIA is all about meddling in international affairs which threaten white supremacy and its economic and military dominance.  Wakanda has a seat in the UN Council and

When N’Jadaka shows up with the head of the King’s arch-enemy in his fist, he is admitted into the chamber where the elder council is assembled. They don’t know this young man who stands with pride and assurance. He knows he is home even if those around him do not guess his lineage—but soon they will. He looks at their faces and dares the king with his eyes. N’Challa does not ask him his name. He dismisses the man before him and in that gesture makes a huge mistake.

Okay, so Erik is faced with the worst case scenario. No love is coming from the throne, so he has to pep himself up. In “I AM” (by Jorja Smith) we could N’Jakada and T’Challa’s voice:

[Intro]

“Try it if it feels right (try it)

Try it if it feels right, yeah

When you try, oh, oh

[Verse 1: Jorja Smith]

“I’m tryin’—I’m just, yeah, I’m just, yeah

I been out here tryin’ to see my homecomin’

And of course, somebody’s always gonna say somethin’

Try and shoot me down for voicin’ my own opinion

Triggerin’ a part of me that’s always been indifferent

[Pre-Chorus: Jorja Smith]

“And I know that we have asked for change

Don’t be scared to put the fears to shame

[Chorus: Jorja Smith]

“When you know what you got

Sacrifice ain’t that hard

Feel like dependin’ on me

Sometimes we ain’t meant to be free

When you know what you got

Sacrifice ain’t that hard

Feel like dependin’ on me.”

Again, N’Jadaka’s hope for acceptance and warm open arms to the prodigal son are dashed into pieces. This just one of many opportunities missed that might have spared lives. Raised in Oakland by a father who is brother to T’Challa’s father, King T’Chaka, the father and son have a loving relationship.  All Erik N’Jadaka Stevens knows is America and Wakanda in the stories his father tells of his land. Later Erik reads for himself about Wakanda in the books his father left for him. Erik’s America a place where death is normed like absent fathers.

Co-writer Joe Robert Cole says of Erik: “I think the best villains are ones that have a point of view that’s relatable and that you can empathize with. Sometimes it’s how far you take things that makes you a villain, and not necessarily the perspective.

“[N’Jadaka] is effective because he really affects our hero. T’Challa ends up the same place that he does, philosophically, through his interactions with him. T’Challa is there out of empathy for the world, and [N’Jadaka or] Killmonger is there out of pain. He affects T’Challa in a way that I think is really meaningful, and meaningful to the story structure. A lot of conversation that [Ryan Coogler and I] were having, early on, was how to approach the dynamic between African Americans and Africans, and what that means and what that dialogue is. He, in a very personal way, addresses that, in terms of the family dynamic and his perspective on that, with isolationism and separation. All of that comes through in his character, but in an emotional way because it’s so personal to him, and you feel for him. You understand why he’s so angry versus just wanting to control the world. And Michael [B. Jordan] is irresistible and so likeable. He’s such a fantastic emotionally available actor and he’s so likeable that for him to play a villain, it’s easy to root for him, no matter what he’s doing” (Collider: C. Radish).

In Kendrick Lamar’s “Pray for Me” we hear lyrics that reflect the spiritual isolation Erik feels, Erik representative of all the black boys and girls in Oakland looking for a break and not finding one. This is where Killmonger is born—

[Chorus]

“Who gon’ pray for me?

Take my pain for me?

Save my soul for me?

‘Cause I’m alone, you see

If I’m gon’ die for you

If I’m gon’ kill for you

Then I spilled this blood for you, hey

[Verse 2]

“I fight the world, I fight you, I fight myself

I fight God, just tell me how many burdens left

I fight pain and hurricanes, today I wept

I’m tryna fight back tears, flood on my doorsteps

Life a livin’ hell, puddles of blood in the streets

Shooters on top of the building, government aid ain’t relief

Earthquake, the body dropped, the ground breaks

The poor run with smoke lungs and Scarface

Who need a hero? (Hero)

You need a hero, look in the mirror, there go your hero

Who on the front lines at ground zero? (Hero)

My heart don’t skip a beat, even when hard times bumps the

needle

Mass destruction and mass corruption

The souls of sufferin’ men

Clutchin’ on deaf ears again, rapture is comin’

It’s all prophecy and if I gotta be sacrificed for the greater

good

Then that’s what it gotta be.”

Perhaps it is better to dream of the places ancestors tread, rather than to go and then realize you lack the kind of preparation, grooming and/or education to adequately address the assembly of elders. Even if you carry the head of the arch enemy in your hand—the king does not take the gift, the assembly gasps. You were expected, yet your arrival is not welcome.

In your dreams you thought someone might have missed you, that there would have been a card next to a place-setting with your name on it.  Little boy dreams you squash as you challenge the throne. Love is not something you have been able to depend on, so you do what is dependable “fight.”

If the sojourn has been too long, the people who knew you are gone, the keys have been changed to doors you once entered, currency is different, and of course language which expands and grows like one’s breath – no longer contains words needed to convey what sits on your heart.

Erik doesn’t know what he wants once he arrives except power, power to replace the vulnerability he has been hiding inside gang-banger bravado for most of his life.  Finally home, Erik is too full of angst, anger, and pain. He wants to talk, but like a man locked in solitary – his communication skills are fragile and he strikes out just because he is good at inflicting pain, a pain he knows all too well.   Again, given the rules Wakanda functions under, was there another way to handle Erik’s return?

When he travels to the land of the ancestors and confronts Dad, T’Chaka admits his error and the mess he has left his son to rectify. The sins of his father do entrap T’Challa. Unfortunately, there is no time to plan, caucus or develop a strategy. Erik shows up demanding the throne. A counter-offer would have been a perfect, one where Erik was welcomed, the errs of his uncle acknowledged and a period of orientation and spiritual cleansing would have helped the returning son clear himself of the anger, rage, hurt and negativity life in the west causes black people.

Whiteness tends to act as an eraser of black consciousness. Even in the most Third World of Third World countries there is something wholesome and nourishing about waking up and going to sleep surrounded by people who look just like you. Wakanda is a future we can look forward to. Certainly, the resources for such a kingdom exist, if we could somehow stop the international pillage and intercommunal bloodshed.

But back to Wakanda, a fictional country in East Africa, and the juxtaposition of the two brothers N’Jadaka and the king, T’Challa who is also the Black Panther.

The film “Black Panther” is without a doubt exciting. Filled with characters little black boys and little black girls would want to emulate, the world Wakanda reflects is one where the Black king is god. Black women are warriors, inventors, scientists. This is a world white people have not conquered because it is undervalued. While the royals live in opulence, it looks like the rest of the population are herders. Perhaps this is a cover— I couldn’t tell. The Wakandan intelligence is sophisticated, and like the West their spies are also everywhere involved in humanitarian secret missions and also in proactive defense against known and unknown enemies.

Wakanda is not a democracy. Leadership is inherited; however, it can be challenged in ritual combat by other tribal leaders who do not want to serve Wakandan heirs. The ceremonial preparation and inauguration are magnificent—the costumes (a la Ruth E. Carter), scenic design (a la Hannah Beachler), and the phenomenal cast which includes: Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. The actors – all of them, are otherworldly. Perhaps this is what makes audiences forget Wakanda is not only imaginary—it is based on inequity and presents a false dichotomy. It vilifies the victim and befriends the enemy aka “the colonizer.”

Don’t trust government agents, they will sell you out every time, is a lesson the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (1966-1982) warned against a backdrop of multiple raids, deaths and imprisonment. As King T’Challa sits in the infamous peacock chair he refuses to allow his cousin, whom he recognizes, speak. Yet, N’Jadaka identifies himself to the royal court. What is T’Challa afraid of? Why does he not welcome his estranged relative home?[1]

At a Huey P. Newton birthday event at the West Oakland Library hosted by Billy X, a speaker suggested Marvel give some proceeds from the film to The Jericho Movement to support political prisoners, many former Black Panthers. The film continues to set milestones in just its third week of release, becoming the third-highest-grossing Marvel film, behind “The Avengers” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Black Panther has already grossed $8.1 million on Monday, [Feb. 26,] bringing its domestic gross to $411.7 million in just 11 days” (ABC News).

Once the hologram which makes the true Wakanda invisible is disarmed and the secret is out, white characters become a part of the African landscape—a friendly CIA agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman), participates in a war between King N’Jadaka aka Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (actor Michael B. Jordan) and King T’Challa[2] (actor Chadwick Boseman).  The epic battle is the beginning of the kingdom’s undoing. Walter Rodney’s classic text “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972) is queried here as we see Wakanda’s intentional low profile blown asunder.

The third world country sits on a mineral keg – vibranium, a magical energy source that can do just about anything – power the country, facilitate telecommunications, heal or restore life, act as a shield. . . . We can anticipate how vibranium (like colton in DRC) will make Wakanda the target for international plunder.

Instead of strategic involvement in black community development, the Wakandan elite invite the enemy into its house. Important secrets are shared with historically unworthy allies. Instead of killing the enemy immediately, King T’Challa as the Black Panther hesitates and lets CIA agent Ross define the terms. Ross meets alone with Ulysses Klaue, the villain. The South African black-market arms dealer, smuggler and gangster, Klaue (actor Andy Serkis) shares secrets with Ross and then escapes.[3]  It is his cousin, N’Jakada who slays Klaue and brings his head to Wakanda. Again, why is not N’Jakada embraced? Why is his appearance met with silence?

Marvel’s Black Panther borrows from the historic Black Panther Party for Self-Defense yet power is not for “the people.”  A select few know where the powder-keg lies.  Coded secrets populate plans to steal control and conquer the world.  White men are greeted as colonizers, yet the new King T’Challa trusts his secrets to a white man (whom he knew when his dad was alive).  The American Intelligence Agency gets favorable press in Black Panther. Funny how spies and infiltration, COINTELPRO— are also dropped into the discourse like olives or pimento in a martini landscape where the undermining of blackness is inevitable.

Why is black power so threatening? Why did the angry black child have to fight his way home? Why wasn’t the door open for him? Just like other prodigal tales – note Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola prescient novel “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” (1954), where a West African boy child is abandoned in a scary forest –He fights many battles, some with wit and others with might, and just like N’Jakada, when he reaches home only one person recognizes him.

Reconciliation

Sunset. Maghrib. The blessing at close of day. Brothers should make peace before the sun sets. It would have been so easy to forgive the wayward son. He was left alone. His avenging the death of his father, N’Jobu, was his right. With family and love he could have helped his people. If a nation was watching, the domestic warfare on black people would end. It’s the threat of annihilation that makes nations rethink terror. Wakanda is that powerful. Imagine if those in the Diaspora could depend on its support.

Both men – T-Challa and N’Jadaka honor their ancestors. Sankofa is a bird looking over its shoulder as if it forgot something—in the Akan culture, this Adinkra says to remember your history, do not forget your past. Besides the bird with an egg in its beak; the Sankofa symbol is also found shaped like a heart.

The heart-shaped herb is central to psychic transport and healing in Wakanda We see both kings swallow the potion before being buried alive—submerged, the men visit the ancestral realm to find answers to vital questions and for validation. Our ancestors love us unconditionally. This is something N’Jakada needs when Wakanda is not the welcoming place he’d dreamed of since childhood.  For N’Jakada Erik Killmonger Stevens, there is an urgency the other ruler does not feel because he is soft and comfortable. T’Challa has not suffered. Those of us in the wilderness have suffered and are short-tempered and out of patience. In the world Black Panther opens onto there is hostility, betrayal and murder. A child is abandoned, dreams extinguished.

Boseman says in an Atlantic magazine interview that his character, T’Challa, is the enemy: “’It’s the enemy I’ve always known. It’s power. It’s having privilege. I don’t know if we as African-Americans would accept T’Challa as our hero if he didn’t go through Killmonger because Killmonger has been through our struggle, and [T’Challa hasn’t]’” (Paur).

Black Panther borrows from the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense yet power is not for “the people.”  The memes are jumbled here. The king is not compassionate, he is an indecisive and often distracted. He cares what white America thinks. He cares how he looks on the evening news.  King T’Challa or the Black Panther is just playing at god, his brother by circumstance is serious. The contrast— that between black folks in the diaspora and the folks back home, many descendants of the Africans responsible for our capture and exile is greed fuels civil conflict. Again look at the DRC. Warfare is a strategy which continues today. The intercontinental racial alliances have not gone away: China owns most of Congo not to mention other parts of Africa; however, so does Germany, France, England, South Africa.

Wakanda presents an opportunity to philosophically mend this riff between Africa and the Black Diaspora. The two kings resonate so strongly within black audiences because killing and death are endemic in black community both nationally and internationally. Ironically, both are fueled by the same source: the racialization of capital, raw materials and human resources. Each night a black child prays for a hero to rescue him or her from certain death if not tonight, tomorrow morning— The young N’Jadaka (actor Seth Carr) cries for his dad N’Jobu (actor Sterling K. Brown).  Yet, as the boy slips his father’s signet ring from his finger, he is not surprised the warrior is dead. The battle is internal.

Where is the Mothership the Messenger of Allah spoke of, Sun Ra envisioned in song, and ET actualized? Why does Erik’s Uncle T’Chaka and the counterspy, Zuri, leave the boy behind and never speak of his father again? Townson’s “Brother from Another Planet” and Will Smith’s “I Am Legend” are about as close Hollywood will let a black hero get to anything like a happy ending . . . certainly not happily ever after for black boys abandoned, isolated and alone, dreams of home extinguished.

What is admirable about the antagonist is his fortitude despite isolation. Soon fatherless and maybe motherless (we are not privy to the backstory) N’Jadaka (or Erik Stevens) teaches himself to be a warrior his Wakandan ancestors would be proud. He uses the master’s tools to prepare himself at MIT and later as a soldier who is admired and feared by American intelligent forces. The CIA agent tells the King, when N’Jadaka shows up, “he is one of our Negroes.”

Don’t let black kids walk away from this film thinking it is okay for two strong men (1st cousins, whom I reference as “brothers”) to kill each other. The propaganda regarding fratricide while tangibly thematic to the plot is not resolved. Why is the king so intent on removing this man? Was he afraid he might eventually lose the battle? If so, why did he carry his wounded brother to the mountainside to see his first and last sunset?  When T’Challa begins to suggest perhaps a way for N’Jadaka to live, he is stopped. N’Jadaka tells him that his ancestors spent too much time in the bottom of slaveships for him to ever agree to a life confined.

Kendrick Lamar invited other artists to collaborate with him on his album. In this song, Season’s the artist features South African rapper Sjava who sings in Zulu, which is the language King “T’Challa speaks. John Kani, the actor who portrays his father in the film is also Zulu. Angela Bassett is not Zulu; however, she is a lovely, Ramonda, T’Challa and Shuri’s mom. She is Queen Mother of Wakanda.

“Seasons” also features two California rappers: Mozzy and Reason. In this verse Mozzy sings about “being trapped in a cycle of institutional racism, poverty and violence. Those aren’t problems that a song or a superhero can solve. But if “Black Panther” had wanted simple comic-book escapism, it wouldn’t have hired Mr. Lamar” (Pareles).

SEASONS (Sung in Zulu and English)
[Verse 2: Mozzy]

I cried when lil’ bruh died

Got high and watched the sunrise

Wiggle on ’em if it’s one time

They done hung all of my people

I love all of my people

I’m in the slums with all of my people

They tryna tell us that we all equal

We get no justice so it ain’t peaceful, yeah

[If] They can bluff you, they can beat you

. . . Momma told me there was demons

And she ain’t never lied on her Jesus’

. . . Trapped in the system, traffickin’ drugs

Modern-day slavery, African thugs

We go to war for this African blood

We go to war for this African blood

When I put n– on, it was all out of love

You was disloyal, can’t call it no love

What does freedom look like for a people estranged from home a land so far away, it is not even imaginable? Perhaps this is why Black Panther is so exciting for so many black people here and elsewhere. Wakanda is the home so many black folks psychically long for—its characters seemingly nuanced and accessible.  Why don’t African leaders in the tradition of Presidents Ahmad Sekou Toure, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Kambarage Nyerere invite those in the Diaspora to return home?

Set in both Africa and America, the most African town on the West Coast is Oakland—well in its heyday (smile). New Orleans is hands down Africa in the South. Seventh Street Blues, deFremery Park with Lil Bobby Hutton Grove, the 16^th Street Train Station. Cooger says about Oakland:  “In the Nineties, where would be a place where [Erik’s] father, a Wakandan spy could go to be exposed to these points of view? Not points of view that are radical, but him being a Wakandan and being exposed to these things could lead to the conclusion and the choices that he makes. Oakland was that,” the director revealed before naming Tupac Shakur as a source of inspiration.

“We wanted to bring the energy of Tupac to a Marvel movie,” he added. “That’s where ‘Pac spent a lot of his time, the ‘Pac that we know came from his time in the Bay Area. Black people got to California and the Bay Area from repeated migration, fleeing awful things. And that’s where you saw these organizations [like the Black Panther Party] come from. They ran out of places to run.”

Though two white dudes created the Marvel comics “Black Panther” 52 years ago, surprisingly just a few months before Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded an organization with the same symbol.  Uncanny how Stan Lee and writer-artist Jack Kirby’s Black Panther character first “appears in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966) in what is called the Silver Age of Comic Books, 1956-1970.”

Though the comic series predates the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the Black Panther character does not predate the Lowndes County Freedom Party in Alabama where the Black Panther symbol appears on voting ballots and voting rights leaflets. Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton requested permission from LCFP to use the Black Panther as the symbol for the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.[4] When the BPP begins to use the Black Panther as well, Lee and Kirby consider using a leopard instead; however, the new character and name doesn’t stick. I am waiting for one or both of the men to come clean about the coincident—

How do we have a conversation when words are inadequate?

N’Jadaka is fueled by rage. He has wanted to belong. He misses his family. His entire life was spent preparing to claim his birthright. Now that he is face to face with his blood relatives, he can hardly contain his anger. Those in the Diaspora understand his rage. How to temper it is the question when all the boy-child in a man’s body wants to do is rip Wakanda apart and he does. He tells the gardener to burn everything—the fire a reflection of his inner turmoil. With all his study, he could not have imagined the greatness into which he was born. Wakanda lineage plus that of the enslaved Africans together make N’Jadaka a mighty adversary or valuable ally and comrade. Too bad, T’Challa realizes this too late.

Rising from the dead?

T’Challa cheats. He is on life support, technically dead.  Okay, the film is Black Panther and of course the lead has to win (even if scientifically it is a stretch).  In the ritual battle N’Jadaka throws the king off the cliff. Everyone assumes he is dead; however, his ally finds his body and keeps the deposed king frozen so that his vital signs remain stable. Ice is also a material which extinguishes fire or rage. That the king is not dead or that he rises from a comatose state furthers the Easter or Christ mythology – the film is released during Lent season. The dead rise multiple times in the mythic Black Panther. All they need is a shot of vibranium.

Is Black Panther saying to viewers—let see you look at race when both the good and bad guys are both black? We even let a CIA agent save the King’s fiancé. We give you a good white guy and a bad white guy. Fair is fair, right? Wrong.

Some of the Wakandan allies know what drives N’Jadaka—they see the unchecked state violence in America. They too question their rulers’ inaction when they know the neocolonial history and how black people were spread throughout the west to build the colonizers’ power base. Purchasing a few housing projects and showing off a space ship to kids in the same parking lot where N’Jadaka looked up that night and watched his folks leave him behind, will not solve the intrinsic problem in the West nor will arming black people resolve systemic white supremacy either.

Several characters rattle the cage that surrounds Wakandan elite.  Nakia (actress Lupita Nyong’o) rescues women being sexually trafficked.  Princess Shuri (actress Letitia Wright), the young scientist, is too smart to not spread her knowledge to other smart youth. Wakanda has access to medical technologies which could cure many ailments and prevent others. When the film ends, we see several possibilities.

Wakanda needs to look at the debt it owes N’Jadaka’s African America.  Uncloaking at UN Headquarters in Geneva does not undo the harm. The end of the film is not the end of the story nor does it resolve the conflict or rebalance power. T’Challa, the Black Panther might be able to walk on water, even rise from the dead with the help of heart-shaped flower-power medicine (opiates?); however, the road to forgiveness, reconciliation and reparations between Africa and Diaspora Citizens is not resolved by the purchase of a few apartment buildings. To think so is to miss what is a most vital question in this cinematic wonderland.

How could the king knowingly kill his brother and then leave his brother’s child behind? Why didn’t he send anyone for the child? It is the Frankenstein story. The monster is the scientist, not the creature he creates. The creature just wants love. What he incites is fear because he is so ugly. Killmonger incites fear. As the moniker implies, the warrior is a killing machine, the scarification on his body for everyone killed makes others look away. He is seen as a beast, uncivilized, something to be stopped, not a man with a heart capable of reason.

Killmonger is stopped or at least it looks that way.  However, he will not go away because he lives and walks among us. For Black Americans, revolution remains on our minds. It would be helpful if Wakanda were really on our side – hope Africa is listening.

And for the badass sisters. . . Wakanda might have T’Challa as Black Panther, but I read that when he was injured, his kid sister, Shuri stepped up and took over as Black Panther. Reminds me of Elaine Brown who was Chairwoman of the BBP (1974-77).  Watch out! It might be worth it to read “Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection.” Here is a list of the other collections: 5 Black Panther Comics to Read Before You See the Movie

Michael B. Jordan Just Wants to Watch the World Burn  This is a great interview with Jordan, the actor who portrays the antagonist, N’Jadaka Erik “Killmonger” Stevens

In this article, The Evolution of Marvel’s Black Panther, there is great background on the Marvel comic series especially how the “Black Panther” character was renamed “Leopard” for a minute. The creators did not want their character to be confused with the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. They did not have a position on the BPP one way of the other, creators’ state in a recent interview. There is also info on the first black writer for the series, Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 (62 issues) up to Ta-Nehisi Coates (4 issues). In Coates series, Black Panther: World of Wakanda, there are also writers like Roxane Gay who writes the prequel to “A Nation Under Our Feet’ “in which the origins of two members of Wakanda’s elite all-woman soldier squad known as the Dora Milaje are explored.”  The article, “Evolution of Marvel’s Black Panther” looks at the social evolution of the character and the language associated with Africa. It was Tarzan, jungles and savages then.

Roxane Gay. Alongside artists Alitha E. Martinez and Rachelle Rosenberg, Gay penned a prequel to A Nation Under Our Feet in which we saw the origins of two of the members of Wakanda’s elite all-woman soldier squad known as the Dora Milaje.

I also watched a fun video about a screening in Accra, West Africa. The hosts are African Americans in Ghana: https://youtu.be/PvD6ZLMn3u0

 

[1] I am reminded of another sojourn, that depicted in Amos Tutuola’s (1920-1997) “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” (1954), is the story of a young boy separated from his older brother in the bush and his many adventures as he tries to find his way back home. When he stumbles out of the forest into the light his mother doesn’t know him, but an uncle or his brother does and welcomes him home.

[2] Also the Black Panther

[3] Historically white men have shown they are allies even when on opposite sides of the battlefield. It is no different here. The audience sees Stevens’s eyes glaze over as he sees the Wakandan enemy as an ally with information he can use.

[4] https://www.workers.org/2016/03/30/lowndes-county-alabama-the-original-black-panther-party/

Happy Birthday Sister Sadie Williams who will be 94 this month. Happy Birthday Fred, my brother, who will be still younger than me (smile). Happy Birthday to Paradise Free Jah Love, my friend for a long time. And Happy Birthday to one of my favorite librarians an friends, Christine Saed. Jubilee and Felicitations to all born this month.

28th Annual Celebration of African Americans and Their Poetry

Imagine, 28 years of poetry and these years have been some pretty marvelous ones. Drop by for the free event Feb. 3, 1-4 p.m., at the West Oakland Branch Library, 1801 Adeline Street, Oakland. We will have our veterans and new poets reflect on the theme this year, “Resiliency.” A couple of our featured poets are behind enemy wars like Adisa Kamara who is held at San Quentin State and Donald “C-Note” Hooker (K94063) in Lancaster, CA. Hooker is a member of the artist collective: darealprisonart: Shedding light on injustice everywhere

Diane Barnes’s play A Stroke of Luck at The Marsh, San Francisco

“A Stroke of Luck,” by Dr. Diane Barnes has been extended – Yeah! It plays Sat 2/3, then reopens Thurs 2/22, with performances Thursdays 8 PM , Sundays 2 PM, and Saturdays 2/24 and 3/3 at 5PM through March 29. (Dark weekend of March 10.) Visit https://themarsh.org/my_stroke_of_luck/diane-barnes/#tickets

Who are you when the “you” you know is gone?

Did you know the average person loses 1.9 million brain cells every minute a stroke goes untreated? Barnes knew; she’s a doctor, a radiologist who diagnoses strokes! But she did not deal with having a stroke very well; it was 20 hours before she went to the hospital! In My Stroke of Luck, Barnes recounts her experience of having a stroke, her path to recovery, and more. In a spellbinding and funny look at love, family, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Barnes shares her story: a single adoptive mother of special needs and gifted tween sons, who forges a new identity after a debilitating stroke.  Listen to an interview with Ms. Barnes on Wanda’s Picks Radio Show. It was the day before the Woman’s March and Diane picked up the phone and said yes, when one of my guests did not show in the studio. We had a great conversation and her show is certainly touching the hearts of so many audiences. However, the black audience is not showing up. Now is yet another opportunity to discover, you own “stroke of luck.”

The Oakland Jazz Choir, Friday, Feb. 2, 7 p.m., $10 at The Terrace Room at Lake Merritt, 1800 Madison Street, Oakland, CA.

The Oakland Jazz Choir has been singing and bringing innovative, and unique vocal jazz to the Bay Area since 1992. Oakland born and bred, they are one of just a few community jazz choirs in the nation singing cool original, and standard jazz material in a distinctive choral jazz setting. The Oakland Jazz Choir is entirely funded by individual donations and small grants. www.oaklandjazzchoir.com

Elihu Harris and Barbara Lee Lecture Series 2018

The Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center is proud to kick-off its 2018 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Thursday, February 1, 7:00-9:30 p.m., with Civil Rights leader and Congressmember James E. Clyburn who represents South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District.

The event will be at Merritt College Gymnasium, 12500 Campus Drive, Oakland. The event is FREE. Call 510-434-3988 to RSVP. Watch online too.

Art Exhibits

Still I Rise: A Portrait of Strength, January 26-March 15 at JanRae Community Art Gallery at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 2908 Ellsworth Street, Berkeley, 510-809-0211, www.wcrc.org Artists featured are: Orlonda Uffe, Cheryl Riley and Virginia Jourdan, curator.

David Graves: Spirit Migration

David Graves: Spirit Migration, at EBMUD Oakland Administration Bldg, 2nd Floor, Jan. 5-Feb. 22, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Reception: February 2, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call (510) 287-0138 or www.ebmud.com/art

Beitia: Extraction of My Existence

Art@Archer presents: Beitia: Extraction of My Existence looks at the trials and tribulations of being an Afro-Puerto Rican, self-taught artist in the 21st Century. The exhibit is up Feb. 1-March 31. There are two receptions: Friday, Feb. 2 and March 2 (6-9 p.m.) The gallery is located at 431 13th Street, Oakland, CA 94612.

AACHAC Presents “An Evening with HeLa” on February 1, 6-9 p.m. and a Free Seminar on Clinical Trials on February, 2, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The African American Community Health Advisory Committee (AACHAC), in partnership with San Francisco-Peninsula Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the San Mateo County Health System, host an extraordinary event that features a presentation with members of the Henrietta Lacks family. If you don’t remember, Henrietta Lacks is the woman who has immortal cells used in scientific experiments to cure many diseases, yet her family was left penniless until Rebecca Skloot and Deborah Lacks (daughter) joined forces to learn the story of this remarkable woman. Though there is Rebecca Skloot’s compelling book and the HBO film released last year, there is nothing like meeting the relatives of Mrs. Lacks to hear them tell the story.

On February 1, there will be a panel discussion with two of Mrs. Lacks family members: at the beautiful: Samuel Johnson, Jr. Performing Arts Center, Capuchino High School, 1501 Magnolia Avenue, San Bruno. The venue is named after Samuel Johnson, Jr., Superintendent Emeritus, former Principal of Capuchino High School, and the first African American Superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District.

There will be a reception, short film on Henrietta Lacks and a discussion with the Lacks Family: David Lacks Jr., the grandson of Henrietta Lacks and the son of David “Sonny” Lacks and Shirley Lacks, Henrietta Lacks’s daughter-in-law and Deborah’s childhood best friend.

For tickets and complete program information visit: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3180961

A FREE educational seminar (CEU credits are available) follows the evening event, Friday, Feb. 2 at the scenic: Foster City Community Center, 1000 E. Hillsdale Boulevard, Foster City from 8:15 am to 1:30 pm..

This seminar brings together the community, health professionals, patient advocates and researchers to learn about clinical trials and its importance among populations of color. Breakfast and lunch provided. At this writing the free seminar is sold out.

Comedy at Ashkenaz with Diane Amos and Friends

“Comedy at Ashkenaz Music and Dance Center” series in Berkeley celebrates Black History Month with “Diane Amos and Friends” on Thursday, February 8 @ 8 p.m., 317 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley. Visit ashkenaz.com Comedy at Ashkenaz takes place every second Thursday of the month and is a collaboration between Ashkenaz and Kung Pao Kosher Comedy’s Lisa Geduldig.

Dance

Guarandinga: Latin Afro Pop, Sat., Feb. 17 @Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda, 510-865-5060 rhythmix.org

Black Choreographers Festival: Here and Now

The African & African American Performing Arts Coalition and K*Star*Productions present the BLACK CHOREOGRAPHERS FESTIVAL: HERE & NOW showcasing “new voices / new works,” February 17 – March 4, 2018, Saturdays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. on all dates beginning at Dance Mission Theatre, 3316 24th Street, San Francisco, (2/17-18), with among others: Delina Patrice Brooks, Alex Diaz, Ashley Gayle & Noah James, Kai Hazelwood, Joslynn Mathis Reed, Nkechi Njaka (Saturday only), Christopher Scarver, Natalya Shoaf (Saturday only), Dazaun Soleyn, Jamie Wright (Sunday only).

The Festival then moves Feb. 24 – 25 to SAFEhouse Arts, 145 Eddy Street in San Francisco, and features: Shawn Hawkins, Cherie Hill and Christopher Scarver.

In March, BCF is in Oakland at Laney College, 900 Fallon Street in Oakland, Mar. 3 – 4 and features: Delina Patrice Brooks (Sunday only), Alex Diaz, Chris Evans with Byb Chanel Bibene (Sunday only), Ashley Gayle & Noah James, Joslynn Mathis Reed (Saturday only), Natalya Shoaf (Saturday only), Dazaun Soleyn, Phylicia Stroud, Latanya d. Tigner, Meagan Uriah Wells. For more info: bcfhereandnow.com

Tickets are: $10 – $25 and can be purchased online at the following links:

Weekend one: brownpapertickets.com/event/3323278

Weekend two: safehousearts.org/event/6af5575a9d44c40750723fc9c325b096

Weekend three: bcfoakland2018.brownpapertickets.com

On the Fly:
SF Indie Festival, Feb. 1-15 at various venues in San Francisco: Roxie and Victoria theatres. Listen to Jeff Ross, SF Indie founder on Wanda’s Picks Radio, Jan. 26, 2018, reflect on 20 years of film old and new, and those with African Diaspora themes; Black Panther: the Film opens Feb. 16 in the Bay! Make sure you dress in those kinte robes, gowns, golden crowns. Read more at BAM. Stanley Nelson, director, has done it again with his latest airing Feb. 19 on PBS.org, “Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Historic Black Colleges and Universities.” Check the time. Black History Month Programming on KQED and World Feb. 2018. Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew, directed by Jade King Carroll, and featuring Margo Hall as FAYE, Lance Gardner as REGGIE, Tristan Cunningham as SHANITA, Christian Thompson as DEZ, is at Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, 397 Miller Avenue, through Feb. 18. The play then goes to TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in Palo Alto. Call 415-388-5208 or boxoffice@marintheatre.org What happens when the world as you know is about to end? See what happens to the skeleton crew as one by one they have watched the other factory workers picked off until they are all that is left and soon they will be laid off too. Listen to a recent interview (1/24) with actress Tristan Cunningham (starts at 1:00) whose character “Shanita” is pregnant and cannot imagine her child’s future if she loses her job. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre: Bringing the Art to Bay Area Audiences (BATA) has two works, Drinking Gourd by Lorraine Hansberry and The Long Long Ride by Brian Thorstenson this month. Both are directed by Aldo Billingslea. Thorstenson’s play is at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, Sat., Feb. 3 (2 p.m.) and Hansberry’s Monday, Feb. 5 (7 p.m.) at Shogun Studios, 1201 University Avenue in Berkeley. Both are free performances. The 22nd Annual Art of Living Black opens at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Opening Reception is Sat., Feb. 3, 2018- March 8, 2018 Visit http://richmondartcenter.org/exhibitions/22nd-annual-the-art-of-living-black/ or call 510.620.6772 Donald Lacy’s ColorStruck 2018 at Laney College Theatre, Feb. 1-3, 8 p.m. Black History Months Events at Ashkenaz: Feb. 1 – 28.  Turning Pages Book Club & We Turn Pages Too: Local Authors Showcase, Sat., Feb. 10, 2:30-4:00 p.m. at the West Oakland Branch Library, 1801 Adeline Street, Oakland. Free Event. Refreshments served.  In honor of Black History Month, African Attire is suggested. Ragtime, An American Musical, Book by Terrence McNally, Music by Stephen Flathery, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, Feb. 16-Mar. 18, at the Berkeley Playhouse. Visit berkeleyplayhouse.org   Directed by William Hodgen.

ROBERT MOSES’ KIN 23RD HOME SEASON features the World Premiere of Bootstrap Tales

Choreographed by Robert Moses and inspired by The Bootstrap Program, the Company’s new outreach initiative with San Francisco foster youth and street musicians, the event is February 23-25 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater. For tickets which are $19-$55 visit https://ybca.org/whats-on/robert-moses-kin-2018 To listen to an interview with Mr. Moses on Wanda’s Picks Radio Show, visit:
EastSide Arts Alliance presents three exciting events as a part of its work to develop and support a Black Cultural Zone (BCZ):

EastSide Arts Alliance & Geoffrey Pete presents: The 45th anniversary of Kahil El’Zabar & the New Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Sunday, February 4, 2018, 7-9 p.m., $20 at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, 410 14th Street in Downtown Oakland, 510-839-4644. Listen to an interview with co-founder Elena Serrano with Brother Kahil on Wanda’s Picks Radio Show, Jan. 26: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks/2018/01/26/wandas-picks-radio-show  The concert features: Kahil El’Zabar on percussion, Corey Wilkes on trumpet and Alex Harding on baritone sax.
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The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, ever evolving New Black Music combo led by the tireless multi-percussionist jazz innovator KAHIL EL’ ZABAR, draws the most talented musicians from around the country while staying true to its revolutionary heritage and roots from Chicago and the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), America’s longest running independent Black musician’s collective. Now, with the versatile trumpeter COREY WILKES, one of the most inventive and freshest horns on the scene, along with the solid and sonorous baritone saxophonist ALEX HARDING (in the tradition of his master mentor Hamiett Bluiett), the trio returns to EastSide and the Bay Area to remind us that Black music is always at the spiritual core of spearheading a New Reconstruction of American culture.

Get tickets in advance: https://kahilelzabar.brownpapertickets.com/ or at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds. Soul Food dinner: $10.

EastSide Arts Alliance & First Presbyterian Music at the Spire presents: The Sacred Roots of Latin Jazz with John Santos

Sunday, Feb. 11 at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway, Oakland. Doors open at 3:00 pm, the concert starts at 4:00 pm. There are 2 sets featuring a who’s who of Bay Area and international musicians and special guest artists.

Tickets: https://santoslatinjazz.brownpapertickets.com/ or call: 510-533-6629

The month long series of Sunday concerts concludes with EastSide Arts Alliance and the Dellums Institute for Social Change presents: Beloved Oakland

This is a fundraising event for the East Oakland Black Cultural Zone (BCZ), Sunday, February 18, 2018, 8-10 p.m., $50-250 donations requested at The Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph, Oakland. Featured artists include: Fantastic Negrito, Kev Choice, Ise Lyfe, Oakland School of the Arts, Zakiyah Harris & Elephantine, NuDekades, DC, Destiny Arts Dance, Naima Shalhoub

Join the new and old faces of Oakland for a One Night Oakland Love Explosion where we honor Oakland’s social justice legacy and unite around solutions for Urban Equity & Inclusion. Others folks on the program include: Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza, Activist Artist Favianna Rodriguez, East Oakland Native & Super Bowl Champ Gerris Wilkinson. Honoring Oakland’s Original Social Justice Icons: Congressman Ron Dellums, Yuri Kochiyama, Ericka Huggins & the Black Panther School, Betita Martinez, Clem Daniels & Kaiser Permanente.

More information: www.belovedoakland.org For advanced tickers visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beloved-oakland-2018-tickets-41530407567

Every 28 Hours Black Arts Festival

A Healing Experience, will center on resilience and joy in the Black struggle against police brutality and Black oppression.

The free event at ACT’s Strand Theatre, 1127 Market Street, San Francisco, will feature a full day of performances by local Black artists, as well as visual art installations, guest speakers, and panel discussions led by community activists, with goods and food from local Black-owned businesses.

The festival will culminate with performances from Every 28 Hours, a series of one-minute plays inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, performed by members of A.C.T.’s Master of Fine Arts Program, Young Conservatory, and Education & Community Programs, under the direction of Bay Area theater artist and activist Elizabeth Carter. Co-created by Dominic D’Andrea of the One-Minute Play Festival and Claudia Alick of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Every 28 Hours is a national partnership focused on the widely shared statistic that a Black person is killed every 28 hours by a vigilante, security guard, or the police in the United States.

All events at the Every 28 Hours Black Arts Festival are free and open to the public. Due to limited space, RSVPs for the workshops and panel discussion are required; RSVPs for the evening performances are strongly encouraged. Click here to view the schedule and reserve your place!

West Oakland Library Events: Always Free

Huey P. Newton Community Celebration @ West Oakland Library

Join us for a celebration of the life of Huey P. Newton. Author Lisa Perlman will discuss two books that she wrote on the People v. Huey Newton court case, a film about his life will be shown, and people who knew Huey will speak. Saturday, February 17, 2018 – 1:00pm – 4:00pm, 1801 Adeline Street, Oakland

African American Quilt Guild of Oakland’s Annual Demonstration@ West Oakland Library

Celebrate African American History Month with the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland’s Annual Demonstration and Workshop. Supplies will be provided so that you can make your own quilt. For all levels and ages. Saturday, February 24, 2018 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm, 1801 Adeline Street, Oakland

For teens
Let’s Meet in the ‘Zone! @ West Oakland Library

Do you like to play games or make crafts? Want to tell us about your favorite manga series? Head to the TeenZone every fourth Wednesday of the month from 2:30-4:00PM.We will make paper roses in February. Wednesday, February 28, 2018 – 2:30 – 4:00pm, 1801 Adeline Street, Oakland

Black Women Rising
This is the Year of the Black Woman as God

Two years before the historic vote which placed the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey as the Provisional President of a United States of African Diaspora (in 1920) we need to prepare for women as heads of government and heads of state. Looking at what happened to London Breed, briefly acting mayor of a municipality larger than most countries, black community needs to fortify its banks (close ranks) and develop a strategy to stay in power, once in power. Many of us actually believed she had a chance. We have to use the tools of the game to win and stay focused, perhaps we did our victory dance too soon.

One year before the 400th year anniversary of the first Africans to land in Jamestown, Virginia, (in 1919), free then enslaved black people need to contemplate what it means to reside in America. Has the promise of freedom changed over the millennium? The forked tongue analogy meant no disrespect to snakes, rather referenced the two-ness of white men, who prove time and time again, especially when the document is legal, they are not to be trusted whether we are in Jamestown, New Orleans, Texas, Florida or Puerto Rico.

We remember once again, Dennis Banks, a fierce warrior for justice all the way to the end. As we remember Banks, we also need to keep the fire under legislators to free Leonard Peltier. I was at one of the nouveau plantations, San Quentin, for the 100th Issue Anniversary of the SQ Newspaper. As we gathered in the Chapel, it was easy to pretend we were not among men whose liberty was compromised, some of the men decorated veterans. The men present were a privileged segment of a larger population on lockdown, in Administrative Segregation of AdSeg or solitary confinement. The irony was not lost on men and women guests who were once similarly marked. Some of these men were never going home, others hoped for the best after being denied each time they showed up for parole.

The blue shirts, darker slacks, Property of CDCR written along the seam of the pants and the subtle but visible presence of the guards kept everyone on his toes. The editor in chief and other speakers said they’d rehearsed for three weeks, yet couldn’t anticipate the chef on lockdown, which meant a creative menu change—no meal, just cake.

Despite everything the program was an opportunity for the public to recognize that despite physical obstacles and challenges the opportunity to participate as newspaper staff and its network meant that the men who were not present in the room, still had a voice. Censorship protections applied to SQ News; however, administration had to learn this over time. This is not to say that there is no negotiation or compromise between CDCR and the SQ News which is in 36 prisons in California and in other prisons across the nation. Visit https://sanquentinnews.com/the-100th-edition/

Recently the SQ News has been including content from The Fire Inside (CCWP) and the organization, CCWP and the editorial team: Hafsa, Pam and Ann, Alisha were present. Pam said that CCWP visited SQ in 2017 to help with the paper. I recall seeing information about LWOP and A Living Chance, the initiative Adrienne Skye Roberts started to tell the stories of the women dying a slow death behind bars, many convicted as children (http://www.alivingchance.com/).

It is always a revelation to visit the men at SQ.

2018 we need to look at how black people, women and men have been centerpiece to an ideology called United States of America. We might be excluded from public discourse, but we will not be excluded from an ideology or ethos that borrows or steals all its creative inspiration from the most despised among us.

If a people get a pass, it will not be black people unless the person with the wand doesn’t see the melanin content. Forced to bear the advances of men who saw them as sexual objects for their pleasure, black women have peopled the known world (to borrow from Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward P. Jones) with children who look like the rapists and murderers. #SayHerName is a campaign to call out the names of the black women who might disappear if we refused to shine the light next to their faces. (In some cases, miscegenation works well as a political tool. However, this author does not endorse it.)

The irony of the #MeToo is not lost on this black woman whose ancestors were deprived of the kind of public agency that permitted witnessing which validates sexual abuse. Throughout slavery and afterward with the passage of Amendments 13-15 which were more decorative than actual legislative change, black women have not owned their bodies. This disrespect meant vows were ignored and relationships inadequate—marriage between black women and men a parody or joke. Similar to children who dress up and play house, black families dressed up and pretended to have the kind of sanctity inherit in a union blessed by a white god (who listened only to white men).

This year, the women’s marches I attended in Oakland and San Francisco felt activated. Black dads with black moms, surrounded by their children showed up. Everyone I spoke to said they had to get active, participate. They did not want the kind of world the current administration is shaping with policies that benefit only those who are the 1 percent, the 99 percent thrown a bone with its meat already cut from its surface.

Black women are standing taller, not that they weren’t standing taller before. Perhaps we just see these women better because of the new alliances created that lift up the work. Black Lives do Matter, they always have, yet, if black people are killing other, black is seen as valueless and other will take this to mean they have a pass or license to hunt.

How is it possible that a black child can go into Whole Foods in Oakland for his mother and get followed around the store and then assaulted by security? It reminds me of Tanya Harding who was killed by the Korean clerk in LA over orange juice, the money to pay for it in her hand. This Oakland child also had the money to pay for it.

Star Finch’s play, “Bondage,” remounted at AlterTheatre for a short run in repertory with Larissa WarHorse’s Cow Pie Bingo, looks at possession both literal and philosophically—of self and in service to self. The metaphor is a black cake, a spirit cake, served once a year. It becomes a trap for a lone white woman who dares try to fool black gods.

As actress Dezi Soley’s Zuri grows into puberty, decisions regarding her person become less certain her owner and his daughter (her peer, yet mistress) enjoy her displeasure when she asks difficult questions. More often aimed at her elder Azucar (actress Cathleen Riddley) when she wants to kill the entire family. The family lives off the main road and do not have company over often. Why not? She asks. Why not kill these white people? No one will miss them.

Why not? Witnesses in theatre seats echo in reply. Do it.

The Fifth Annual Berkeley Black History Month Celebration is Sunday, February 25, 2018, from 1:00 to 5:00pm, at the Ed Roberts Campus, located at 3075 Adeline Street in Berkeley. Doors open at 1:00pm. Take Ashby BART to the event, which is adjacent to the venue. Admission is free and open to the public.

Includes the showing of a documentary film Gina’s Journey,The Search for William Grimes, based on the Afterword, Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave, which reveal Regina’s path to authenticate her ancestor’s story and the intense personal sacrifices that made editing and publishing a new edition of the Grimes narrative possible. The two stories, Regina’s personal journey and selected William Grimes re-enactments are intertwined throughout the movie and they move toward Regina’s recovering and publishing of her ancestor’s 1825 autobiography. The film will be shown at 2:00pm. Space is limited.

Prior to the showing of the film in the Osher Room, there will be musical entertainment, historical exhibits and arts and crafts vendors. Sponsors for the Berkeley Black History Month Celebration are: City of Berkeley, Berkeley Juneteenth Cultural Celebrations (BJCC), and Berkeley NAACP.

BJCC was established in 1986 for the purpose of celebrating Juneteenth in Berkeley and “to promote greater societal growth and community cohesiveness in the City of Berkeley and surrounding environs through educating and involving people of color in historical, family, economic, business, and cultural activities.” With the addition of Black History Month, the organization is now host to events in February and in June. This year’s 31st Annual Berkeley Juneteenth Festival will be held on Sunday, June 17, 2018.

For additional information, call 510-524-8804. Vendor space is still available. Download an application at berkeleyjuneteenth.org/black history.

 

Congrats to the new San Francisco Mayor London Breed! Happy Birthday to all the Capricorns and Aquarians, which include my brother, mother and daughter, granddaughter and niece! Congrats to TheatreFirst for “Participants,” the kind of collaborative theatre project which should be the norm not the exception. Make sure you check out the finale for TF 2017-18 season: “Between Us” and “Just One Day” beginning Feb. 18.  Listen to two engaging conversations with playwrights and actors re: “Participants.” (Dezi Soléy and Cheri L. Miller; Skyler Cooper; Nick Nanna Mwaluko; Carl Lumbly)

Habari Gani? Imani or Faith

It was just a year ago that Sister Makinya was unable to attend Kwanzaa, so we took Kwanzaa to her. It was Nia for Queen Mother Makinya Kouate Day at the convalescent hospital. Though she’d agreed to attend, when the time arrived the woman of the honor refused to leave her room.

It was mixed company and Kwanzaa is for black people.  Those of us who knew the drill were not shocked, even if we were disappointed. Later on, people went over to her room to share their greetings.

A year later, it was once again Nia for Sister Makinya Day (b. 7/1/1926 – 2/4/2017.  The plan was to have Nia at the Malonga Center, but a scheduling snafu meant it was moved to the Advanced Children’s Community Learning Center in West Oakland. The Malonga was eerily silent on what for conscious Africans are high holy days, the Nguzo Saba an opportunity to rehearse and reflect on the road behind us as we continue the journey forward— Sankofa Movement.

I remember other years when Malonga was the stop for UMOJA, the theatre and lobby spilling over with black art, black bodies, elated to be together once again to reflect on first fruits—harvested: promises made a year earlier and promises kept.

Nia for Sister Makinya was a small gathering, Baba Tacuma King played drums with his kids who were headed to another Kwanzaa in Vallejo. Baba Ustadi Kidiri officiated and was assisted by three children (who stayed), two whom really articulated the principles of the Ngozo Saba. After the candle was lit for the days up to Nia, we shared memories of Sister Makinya, Mother of Community Kwanzaa Ceremonies. The first ceremony was in 1965.

We spoke about having a plaque for her near the Boathouse at Lake Merritt where she honored her parents on her birthday each year, July 1.  We would also like to document for publication a narrative history of Community Kwanzaas in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Please send your Kwanzaa stories, photos, videos and contact information to us. We also need help with the plaque design, and with lobbying City Council to place the plaque in a place of honor.

Contact us at: HonoringSisterMakinya2018@gmail.com or call: 510-255-5579.

28^th Annual African American Poetry Celebration at West Oakland Branch Library, Feb. 3, Rehearsal, Sat., Jan. 27

Don’t forget to let us know if you would like to be one of our featured poets at the 28th Annual African American Poets and Their Poetry, Saturday, Feb. 3, 1-4 p.m. at the West Oakland Branch Library, 1801 Adeline Street, (510) 238-7352. The theme this year is “resiliency” represented by the Akan Adrinkra symbol: Aya, the fern, “‘symbol of endurance and resourcefulness. The fern is a hardy plant that can grow in difficult places.  An individual who wears this symbol suggests that he has endured many adversities and outlasted much difficulty’” (Willis, The Adinkra Dictionary) For information call (510) 238-7352; leave a message at (510) 255-5579 or info@wandaspicks.com.  We will have a rehearsal Saturday, January 27, 10 a.m. at the WOBL.

In the Name of Love: Songs of  Change

The 16^th Annual Musical Tribute, “In the Name of Love,” Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is Sunday, January 14, 2018, 7 p.m. at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive, in Oakland. Visit livingjazz.org/mlktribute  This year with the theme, “Songs of Change,” the concert features Kim Nalley, Nicolas Beard, Tiffany Austin, Amikaeyla Gaston, Jessica Lá Rel with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and the Living Jazz Children’s Project with the Oakland School for the Arts Ensemble. Dana King hosts. Tickets are $25-40 adv., children $8-12. Door $30-48; $10-15. Presented that evening will be the Humanitarian Award to a person in the Bay Area who exemplifies Dr. King’s vision.

Women’s March 2018 – San Francisco #HearOurVote

Saturday, January 20, 2018 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (PST) at Civic Center in San Francisco.
Visit: https://womensmarchbayarea.org/#join-a-march  There will also be a Women’s March, January 20, beginning at 11 a.m. in Downtown San Jose at City Hall.  The theme in SJ is diversity and inclusiveness.

Lower Bottom Playaz and The Flight Deck present: The One Truthiness, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018, 8 p.m., $40

Artist Charlie Levin creates a wax-on-glass painting in real time response to texts — culled from a variety of sources, including social media — and read aloud by the audience. The show occurs quarterly, each time resulting in a new painting that responds to current events. https://onetruthiness.com

Drumming Feet(s)
Savion Glover—Still Bringing the Funk with Marcus Gilmore & Jack DeJohnette at SFJAZZ

Visit sfjazz.org for information about Vjay Iyer’s residency and upcoming concerts this month. Also, not to be missed are the two Savion Glover events, January 4-5 with drummers: Marcus Gilmore, and January 6-7 with Jack DeJohnette.

Solo Performance Play Festival

PlayGround Solo Performance Festival January 11-28. Visit http://playground-sf.org/solofest/ for the entire schedule each day. This listing is edited.

PlayGround’s performance schedule includes (3) African American Playwrights and Actors: Lisa Evans’s “You Really Should Sit Like A Lady (or how I got to Femme),” beginning Friday, Jan. 12, 7 p.m.; Malcolm Grissom’s “Me, My Song,” beginning Sat., Jan. 13, 7 p.m.; and Thomas Robert Simpson’s Courage Under Fire: The Story of Elroy” beginning Sunday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m., Friday, January 12, 2018.  There are two venues. Check to see where the show is being performed: Berkeley Rep – 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley or Potrero Stage – 1695 18th Street, San Francisco.


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Theatre
Lifer opens January 12 at The Flight Deck

Ayodele Nzinga and Triple OG Glenn Bailey, joined me for a conversation about “Lifer,” a new work going up at The Flight Deck, 1540 Broadway, in Downtown Oakland, January 12-28.  Tickets are $20-$40.00. For information visit: http://www.lowerbottomplayaz.com/ Listen at Wanda’s Picks Radio (aired Dec. 29, 2017)

The play, starring Adimu Madyun and the Lower Bottom Playaz, takes its story from Mr. Bailey’s life. Born in Louisiana, raised in West Oakland, he spent 52 years of his life in California prisons, the last time for 42 years. Mr. Bailey says he holds no anger for his years behind bars. He spent a lot of his time cutting hair, listening and using his access to ears with power to change the circumstances for those without such access. Even now, he visits San Quentin on Sundays to talk to the young men about freedom.

Nzinga writes: “’Lifer’ is a darkly humorous cautionary tale filled with advice about how to avoid incarceration from the unlikely lead character: a convicted murderer. Bailey, a lifer at large, is intent on saving lives as a way of ascribing value to his own. He is a unique, serenely hilarious yogi-like sage, who is shaped by his modes of survival: building relationships, sharp insight and flawlessly honest self-reflection of his own life as well as the system from which he spent five decades learning.”

Wanda Sabir:  What is your interest in mass incarceration and returning citizens? How does your work with Glenn Bailey reflect a culmination of scholarship and theatre on the topic?

Ayodele Nzinga, Ph.D.: All art rests upon something. Mine, informed by the continuum of the Black Arts Movement, rests upon the dirt in the slave quarters, the smell in the bottom of tight-packed ships with names like Jesus- – carrying human cargo, in the wind beneath the auction blocks where they traded slaves on Wall Street, and in the blood that flows directly from these narrow spaces in existence to tight-packed projects in inner cities lacking opportunities to thrive, that melt beneath your feet forcing perpetual migration and existential reinvention.

I am a storyteller who is invested in excavating, debilitating invisible narratives, making them visible by placing them center stage in the room where we can confront the context and the lived realities of the assumptions that deny us ownership of our own bodies, freedom of movement, a resting place to flourish in, and the voice to articulate such an abject reality.

An enduring thread through the subjugation of North American Africans is the legal containment of Black bodies. Nowhere is that rope-like thread more visible, than inside the industrial prison complex. My scholarship informs my creative work, and my area of interest/concentration is the creation of narratives of ability that create a narrative to counter consecrated narratives of inability. I believe as August Wilson did that the study of North American African daily life in North America is entirely sufficient to inform any consideration that undertakes the understanding of America as a concept and a reality and or the earnest contemplation of being human in modernity. It is impossible to consider the North American African narrative without engaging incarceration and its affect on those incarcerated, their families, and their communities.

WS: This season reflects an unprecedented exploration of the topic: Mass Incarceration, whether that is Cat Brooks’s “Tasha,” which you directed or “Beyond the Bars: Growing Home,” even “Mama at Twilight, Death by Love” which was remounted last season and now “Lifer.”  

Reflect on your 19th season. How does theatre as an institution serve the disenfranchised, silenced and disappeared people? Who is your audience? Has this changed? Have any constituencies been added? (You mention that The Flight Deck is in the heart of the Black Arts District; however, TFD is not a black theatre.)

AN: Cultural production is the event of people creating signs and symbols that signify they have learned how to live. This includes creating origin stories, a clearly defined context within the greater systems they inhabit. For 19 seasons, 20 years, my troupe has made Black life visible. We strive to create and produce work in which we recognize ourselves, [work] that reflect[s] our communities in realistic enactment. To elevate and place our daily lives on center stage as equal and worthy of reflection and introspection, reshapes the gaze of those whom would ‘other’ us whole cloth by assumption and offer us a space in which to engage as a collective with a common context and as humans who may not share our context but share our humanity.

My audience is composed in part of those who appreciate good theater, in part by my community in search of affirming images and stories they recognize, and in part by those who may never have seen live theater– may not yet know they love it. The latter demographic is enabled by our efforts to remove the barrier of price in exchange for exposing marginalized populations to theater. A growing constituency is theater critics, other theater makers, and those interested in theater that is more than entertainment.

The Flight Deck is a venue. It is the venue in which the oldest North American African theater company in Oakland is a co-tenant. A venue is not a theater company; it’s an empty space we make sacred with our presence. It should be noted the venue was the second organization to sign a MOU with the Black Arts Movement Business District, Community Development Corporation. The Lower Bottom Playaz, Inc was the first. We have the power to influence the spaces we inhabit. We utilize that power.

WS: You speak often of theatre as ritual. I remember seeing you on stage in “One Day in the Life,” Marvin X’s work which made history as the longest running play in the nation. For many actors in the work, they said the performance was healing, the stage an opportunity to recover their lives and humanity. Talk about the Ayo then and the Dr. Ayo now.

AN:  Yes. I directed ‘One Day in the Life’ and played two parts I could not cast. The work was healing for members in the cast and those who witnessed it. That is the inherent power of art to create change, to inspire, to be in conversation with the public sphere. The subject of a ‘Day in the Life’ was drug addiction but it was a standard for addiction of all kinds including the addiction to systems that oppress.

Every opportunity on stage is an opportunity to strengthen your humanity, to heal by introspection and to tap into a connection to the heartbeat that is bigger than your own. Theater as I create and perform it, is ritual. I do not do art for art’s sake. I am in conversation with reality, with life, with my own experiences and the experiences of those who share my context. I am smarter now. What began with instinct has been informed by intellect and experience. I am a better version of myself. The alphabet behind my name grants me visibility and gravitas in rooms that don’t expect me, make me harder to minimize, but they are merely accessories. I am dressed in my avocation, walking the path that was whispered in my ear before I took my first breath; I am in alignment with my purpose.

WS:  You built a theatre named after a Black women saint: Thea Bowman, an African American nun. Sanctified, this theatre was in West Oakland, the Lower Bottoms. You established a theatre district in a place historically known for black art and culture, yet lay farrow due to excavation by scavengers and scavenger hunters.

AN: And claimed a space in a place, (the heart of downtown Oakland), where we once could not conduct business, were sundowned, and made targets of aggressive policing. I key into a space in a place we were denied access. We fell forward. As of this writing we rep the West and the Town. We have gone through great sacrifice with the intention of building an institution that outlives us. It is more than proper we are in what has become the Black Arts Movement Business District. Our history and legacy are rooted in West Oakland. We took West Oakland downtown and remain there. Sister Thea is smiling on us and a sign in a yard does not make a theater. We made Sister Thea a theater. We took her spirit with us and we rep her too.

WS: You also began an academy where you trained your black men and women in the art of storytelling. You made the classics accessible by introducing the youth to August Wilson who articulated their lives in language they understood. They donned the language, attitudes and situations of their ancestors — only to find, these lives of yesterday reflected how much nothing for Black Americans has changed, like Joe Turner.

AN: Lower Bottom Playazs Summer Theater Day Camp, in summer of 2017, completed it’s 10th year of providing free summer enrichment to Oakland’s youth. We now offer reasonably priced enrichment camps for Thanksgiving and Spring break as well. We are training our replacements. We consider that a revolutionary act.

WS: Who is “Joe Turner” today? What puts us at risk? How does what you do on stage both during the formal season as well as over the summer with the kids and youth fortify and immunize or protect the community against capture.

AN: We make the invisible visible. We make the elephant on the table impossible to ignore. We poke at it, prod it, talk to it, we will repurpose it or we will destroy it. We refuse to live in the narrative offered us, so we pray with our hands moving, clearing the road as we create it. We are gifted. We use those gifts to show others they are also gifted with the power to re-write their individual and collective narrative.

WS: The Centennial Cycle changed many lives.

AN: Yup.