“Kicks,” first feature for East Bay native, Justin Tipping, is throwback to the harsh brutal ‘80s-‘90s, when hip hop was painting landscapes along urban highways. It’s post-everything . . . urban removal complete— crack, pistols and cars about all that’s left for those who remain. Life is moving fast, so fast boys need their kicks to keep up.

The story centers on Brandon, a petite youth who wants to buy a pair of Classic Jordans—Esu-Legba colors.  Black and red, the shoes magically open doors for Brandon. Ignored because he is too short and kind of a nerd, this foot attire has Brandon stepping into multiple landscapes, where his strength is tested, his heart weighed, his options measured. Skate boarding his mode of transport, the kid doesn’t occupy a lot of space—observant, he has a code we imagine his mom instilled in him. He stays out of trouble, finds solace in his music and poetry, yet trouble finds him anyway once he has something other boys (translate young men) want.

If shoes make the man, then these kicks help Brandon attract girls. The fly footwear boosts his ego. Jahking Guillory (Brandon) might be a newcomer to the screen; however, he carries his weight with film veterans: Christopher Jordan Wallace (Albert) and Christopher Meyer (Rico).

As Brandon walks home from school one afternoon, he sees men lying in wait for him. They spot his kicks and Flacco (Kofi Siriboe), stomps the boy and snatches the shoes from his feet. Incensed once he can get up, Brandon wants revenge, and so begins his war dance.

The older boys acting as mentors and protectors for their young friend try to talk sense into him. They know Flacco is crazy, besides Oakland (his turf) is another country they do not know. However, like all hero tales they have to travel.

Brandon is emboldened and stands on principle clad in his mother’s house shoes when he tells his boys he is going with them or without them. Brandon has an uncle there. His mother’s brother, who takes care of Brandon’s grandmother he hasn’t seen in a while. Uncle Marlon (Mahershalala Ali) is surprised to see his nephew; he tests the boy and seeing that he is serious, gives him a bit of advice.

The Richmond kids and the Oakland youth pile into Brandon’s cousin’s car and go looking for Flacco. On the way the boys have a bit of fun. “Kicks” takes audiences on a Bay Area tour as the boys take in sideshows, house parties – have a little illicit fun . . . all leading finally to the showdown between Brandon and his nemesis Flacco.

As the characters get hyped on alcohol and drugs with excess adrenal pumping into wells filled with a hyper-masculinity indicative of iconic American culture, co-writers: Justin Tipping and Joshua Beirne-Golden ask the question: Why must we juxtapose manhood with violence? Brandon’s world is rough for both boys and girls. We see the female characters going toe to toe with their male counterparts—a big scene shot when Brandon is on the lam, is entirely improvised Tipping says.  There we witness, respect taken when not readily given.

James Baldwin writes of this hostile world in his seminal essay: “My Dungeon Shook”—the author speaks of “a gimmick, to lift him out, to start him on his way.” Brandon’s gimmick is an invisible space man who pumps him up. Baldwin’s is the pulpit. Both Baldwin (14) and Brandon (15) put these crutches down. Just like Baldwin, Brandon is “afraid of the evil within and the evil without.”

It is a powerful film with a soundtrack that speaks to the soul as it wanders.  The film captures a nostalgia that is home for those who call the Bay home (even those forced out into Pittsburg, Antioch, and Stockton or further).  Perhaps this authenticity is grounded in the fact that from writing to casting to cinematography, many of the big names are homegrown like co-writers Tipping and Beirne-Golden, Oakland-Bay Area and San Francisco born, to Oakland stars Mahershalala Ali (Hunger Games) to Koran Streets, who portrays Brandon’s cousin. Streets’s “Money on My Mind” is a part of the stellar sound track which also features writing from CJ (Albert) Notorious B.I.G.’s son.

We know these boys, even if they no longer live with us. Malidoma Some, Dagara healer says that identity is contingent on a shared community recognition of the inner accomplishment or “fulfillment of our life’s purpose” (27). We witness Brandon’s spiritual shift as he climbs the steps to return home. He has more work to do, but he is certainly changed, a change affirmed and even approved by Albert and Rico.

“Kicks” is a rites of passage story with multiple metaphors involving blackness and manhood and the ritual of violence. Brandon does retrieve his sword, but at what cost?  “Kicks” opens in theatres Sept. 9 in Bay Area Theatres.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUhHNXzWja0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Their sole goal is to decrease the weight of sildenafil tablets your body. Therefore if you are cialis in australia an impotency victim then you should choose cheap Kamagra to cure ED in the easiest manner without undergoing any surgery or operation. With the ability to cure ED or erectile dysfunction in the most levitra 10 mg cost-effective manner. What is the importance of herbal canada pharmacy viagra, male enhancement pills? Erection and penile enlargement completely depends on several factors, right from the specific response one have to consume the medicine to the amount eaten before swallowing the tablet.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In “Southside with You,” (2016), which opens nationally August 26, 2016, Richard Tanne makes his feature film directorial debut.  “Southside” is the story of youthful love, first love for Michelle Robinson (25), a sheltered Chi-town daughter who is working hard—pressing against glass ceilings from a philosophical basement at a prestigious law firm, as she supervises the charming, cute intern, 27 year old, Barack Obama.

The film opens with both protagonists getting ready for their “date,” Barack is seated in his easy chair talking to his grandmother, while Michelle is choosing jewelry, combing her hair, putting lotion on her feet and ankles, then tucking an orange silk blouse into the waist of a cream pencil skirt before slipping on high heel pumps, and walking into the front room of the house to greet her parents who both quiz her about her date. Michelle doesn’t date interns, or so she tells her parents—Marion and Fraser C. Robinson (actors Vanessa Bell Calloway and Phillip Edward Van Lear) who smile as they watch their daughter dress for the “non-date.” She tells them his name which in itself is a conversation starter. While across town, we hear Barack’s grandmother quizzing him on Michelle, and liking what she hears tells Barack to hurry so he won’t be late.

He is, late, that is, something Michelle notices.

The day starts early and Barack has a lot planned; however, Michelle tells him immediately that she has worked too hard to give the lead attorneys at Sidley and Austin, reason to question her values or judgement. Barack agrees to her terms, happy that she doesn’t ask him to take her home.  Actress Tika Sumpter’s Michelle is intellectually sharp and witty as she and a charming chain smoking Barack (actor Parker Sawyers) dance around each other as Michelle’s attraction in an already interested Barack becomes undeniable and she rethinks her rules and compromises as the day progresses.

Michelle visibly relaxes, opens up and begins to let herself enjoy Barack’s company.  Sawyers’s character wants Michelle Robinson to see him. Obviously the actual First Lady likes the introductory package and wrapper. “Southside with You” is a great primer for first dates. President Barack Obama’s initial preparations for this fictionalized version of the actual first date lead the couple (two years later) to matrimony, two daughters, the Senate and two terms in the Whitehouse.

Sawyers’s Barack didn’t know what to expect and at day’s end after he drops off Michelle, and both sit and reflect we see smiles on both their faces –  What the brash Barack almost stumbles into amazes him, as much as it will amaze audiences who did not know as much as we learn on the screen about the eventual First Lady. He literally has no clue, no inclination into the depth hidden beneath Michelle’s professional demeanor. Sumpter’s reading of Barack, as Michelle, is in contrast, on target, whenever she calls him out. She shows up fully armed, pistols strapped on both hips. Though she doesn’t fire blanks, Michelle is a merciful markswoman.

Posed and in control, Tika Sumpter’s Michelle LaVaughn Robinson has definite ideas about what she wants and how she plans to play her hand. It takes a while for Barack to win her confidence, but he does with little things like remembering she likes chocolate ice cream, knowing when to be silent and to listen to what is unspoken and what is voiced.

Funny and spontaneous, Sawyers’s Barack upsets Michelle’s wagon. As she runs to gather the scattering apples each one rolling a bit faster the moment she gets close, Michelle wonders aloud if her intellectual investment in the task is worth the trouble. Let them all rot! Why not try another orchard where the farmers allow her input into the season before harvest?

Both characters grow and change in these capable actors’ hands. “Southside with You” is definitely an ensemble piece, yet as much as we love no nonsense Michelle, it is Parker Sawyers’s charming Barack who carries the show—from the actor’s uncannily familiar Obama mannerisms and diction to his striking visage, his Barack is well . . . our Executive in Chief (smile)—the actor’s aesthetic preparation and training evident in this role. Additionally, his background as a lobbyist gives him a natural inclination and knack for the Barack character and role as well.

Sawyers’s Barack keeps the audience riveted to the screen as his unsolicited observations produce unfavorable results in his date whom he is trying to impress (smile).  Barack then retreats and regroups, Sawyers’s character persisting as he changes minutely and profoundly as a result of his relationship with Tika Sumpter’s Michelle.  He wants the girl. Will he get her? We all know the answer to this. Nonetheless, it’s fun watching Barack sweat.

Barack apologizes to Michelle publically and even admits to a propensity to prejudge another when he is invited to address his friends at the community meeting he and Michelle attend.  Young Barack’s speech is so politically astute—we have a glimpse at the future. One has to marvel at Richard Tanne’s writing and direction here. It is one of multiple freeze frame moments in the film; another is when Michelle shares a personal, not-to-be-repeated-story with Barack.

When Michelle and Barack walk through an alley memorialized with names of black boys killed, once again revelatory— the despair is palatable before we arrive at the church with a leaky roof, community members filling the pews. They assemble to discuss the city council’s refusal to fund a much needed building for children to safely play. Here again, remarkable moments in this amazing film.

Those lists and lists of names lie silently all but forgotten; however, the fallen live in the hearts and minds of those assembled. Barack tells his friends who welcome him back from Harvard, that he has not forgotten them. This community reflects important formative relationships Barack established pre-Harvard Law School.  Similarly, this date with Michelle is another such moment in a youthful life where nothing is taken for granted.

In “Southside with You,” two young people with so much integrity get to know one another. Sumpter’s Michelle listens then calls Barack out on his anger with his Kenyan father; she suggests he forgive him, as she tells him another story about a father-son relationship which starts one way then changes—not because it was easy, rather because it was necessary.  In this story about Michelle’s paternal grandfather and his son, her father, we learn why education is so important to the Robinson family.

At a preview screening at Jack London Cinema, the lead actors share the details of the road from idea to film, shot in 17 days in Chicago’s Southside neighborhood not far from the First Lady’s childhood home. Other scenes are filmed on the West Side, downtown, and on the Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan– Southside’s cinematic re-creation impressive considering architectural changes over the 26 years since Michelle and Barack shared their first kiss. With an estimated budget of $1,500,000, this film had major support from the beginning. John Legend is one of the executive producers with Tika Sumpter, Richard Tanne, and Robert Teitel.

Barack is charming and persistent. He wants to get to know his supervising attorney. She does not date interns. As a black woman in a predominately white firm, she feels she would be respected even less, so she tells him no.  But one sunny day, he convinces her to join him at a community meeting and she says yes.
In 1988, some two years after he was diagnosed with vitiligo, Jackson bought and befriended a pet chimpanzee called cheap viagra from canada Bubbles, an act which extended his eccentric persona. To http://amerikabulteni.com/2013/03/25/brad-pittin-basrolunde-oynadigi-world-war-z-filminin-yeni-fragmani/ purchase viagra from canada have a happy sexual life is greatly connected with the quality of life. Therefore it is important to accept the privileges of Eastern medicine, homeopathy, and herbal remedies, which are safe and sure way to cure ED. levitra generika 10mg Silagra is the primary lowest cost levitra category that includes several opportunities in any sum of counseling subfields.
That yes—as Oakland poet, Reginald Lockett writes and syndicated writer, Shonda Rhimes’s echoes in her “Year of Yes,” is the start of everything. We can see that despite her qualms about dating someone from the office, specifically an intern she supervises, Michelle is smitten as is Barack who opens, then closes the Toni Morrison novel he was about to read. The film ends with the two of them smiling as they reflect on their day together. Barack had planned the day, however, even he could have not anticipated the imperceptible chemical reactions as he sat across from Michelle discussing music choices over a beer, swapping favorite TV show lore at an African Art show or walking through the City of Bones in route to a community meeting at Altgeld Gardens Homes, one of the oldest housing projects in Chicago (1944-45) and one of the first built in the United States.

Michelle and Barack’s day together gives audiences a sense of this city of stark oppositions— very poor and more affluent residents, who don’t have to see each other as long as everything is in its place.  This theme is reinforced by Ernie Barnes’s art at the gallery and Spike Lee’s film, “Do the Right Thing.”  There was not much difference between the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and Chicago’s Southside.

Barnes’s work takes black life as its theme—his elongated figures animated and alive on the canvas.  The late Samuel Fredericks, owner, Samuel’s Gallery on Oak Street in Oakland, hosted a retrospective of Barnes’s work.  The artist was in attendance signing copies of his autobiography, “From Pads to Palettes” (1995).  Barnes spoke about his desire to be a fine artist, and the difficulty in doing so when all the fine artists in museums were white.  When he stated to his teacher that he would exhibit at a museum the class was visiting one day, she laughed and said black people don’t paint.

Although he had the soul of an artist and never stopping drawing and painting, Barnes attended college on a football scholarship. He became a professional athlete (1959-1965) until an injury forced his retirement and his work as official artist for the NFL in 1965 began. When Barack and Michelle stop in front of a painting where men are playing pool, Barack recites Chicago Poet Laureate, Gwendolyn Brooks’s classic work: “We Real Cool: The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel.”

Sawyers’s Barack shares stories of Barnes, the celebrated artist and his work. As he and Michelle walk through the gallery—he mentions JJ from the sitcom “Good Times” and JJ’s metamorphosis when he discovers he can paint.  Actor, Jimmy Walker’s “James JJ Evans” could have stepped from the artist’s canvas, slender and of wiry build, enthusiastic and in perpetual motion. From opening credits which feature Barnes’s “The Sugar Shack” (1970s) to most of the artwork in the series JJ paints, the work also shares Barnes signature. Barnes’ canvas which highlights the vibrancy and rich cultural tapestry that is black people in all their glory, something Michelle and Barack appreciate—something “Southside with You” celebrates. Barnes’s exhibition, “The Beauty of the Ghetto,” an exhibition of 35 paintings that toured major American cities from 1972-1979 was his [illustrated] response to the 1960s ‘Black is beautiful’ cultural movement and James Brown’s 1968 ‘Say it loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud.’”[1]

Of this exhibition, Barnes said, “I am providing a pictorial background for an understanding into the aesthetics of black America. It is not a plea to people to continue to live there (in the ghetto) but for those who feel trapped, it is…a challenge of how beautiful life can be.”[2]

What the director does with Barnes’s art, the African drummers in the park, the little girl dancing and Michelle joining her . . . opens the story to the community which supports the development of a Michelle and adopted son, Barack. The fenced lawns, children playing in the yards in one black community, the absence of children’s voices in others—the picturesque and the horrific realities as we watch Radio Rahim (Bill Nunn) choked to death by police in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” (1989), affirms the possibility of love even when life isn’t perfect.

This first date between Michelle and Barack is at a time when America is at crossroads – Spike Lee’s film at its center: “Do the Right Thing.” However, America has not done the right thing. This structural inequity is echoed at the community meeting the couple attend, it is echoed now at the end of President Obama’s second term. To place this film at the center of the discussion is politically strategic and savvy.

1989 is a volatile year[3]:
U.S. planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over international waters in Mediterranean (Jan. 4). Emperor Hirohito of Japan dead at 87 (Jan. 7). George Herbert Walker Bush inaugurated as 41st U.S. president (Jan. 20). Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses offensive and sentences him to death (Feb. 14). Ruptured tanker Exxon Valdez sends 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound (March 24). Tens of thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in rally for democracy (April 19 et seq.). U.S. jury convicts Oliver North in Iran-Contra affair (May 4). More than one million in Beijing demonstrate for democracy; chaos spreads across nation (mid-May et seq.). Mikhail S. Gorbachev named Soviet president (May 25). Thousands killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators (June 4 et seq.). . . .

Yet, despite all this and what is to come circa 1989, history is working its magic in “Southside with You.”

Within a microcosm that is Chicago’s black community, Michelle Robinson’s family is not an anomaly, but also not typical.  Inside the humble bungalow where she and her brother shared the living room, a curtain dividing the room into two sections, education was stressed, and civic responsibility modeled. Her dad, Frazer C. Robinson, (actor Phillip Edward Van Lear) whom we see in the film and learn about from Michelle, worked 27 years as a City pump operator never missing a day, even when he was diagnosed with MS. The short scene at home, is enough to establish for the audience Michelle’s love for her parents and their support. Both Michelle and her older brother Craig excelled academically—Michelle, followed in her brother’s footsteps and graduated from Princeton, cum laude (1985) with a degree in sociology; she then earned a law degree at Harvard Law School (1988). Both she and her brother skipped second grade and learned to read at four. Michelle attended Whitney Young High School, the first magnet school for gifted and talented children. She graduated in 1981 as class salutatorian.

“Southside with You” is a great story, made all the better because it actually happened. Would that all our days could be as sweet. Don’t miss the film, August 26, when it opens nationwide.

 

[1] http://www.erniebarnes.com/biography.html

[2] Ibid

[3] http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005271.html

One way to fight gentrification is to show up yearly in the places once called home. It is as if the ghosts of Christmas past Charles Dickens writes about have really returned and everyone can see them, not just the person haunted. When a neighbor loses his or her home, the very space echoes the loss as memories disperse lost histories, these moments just a few of the tragedies associated with systemic dislocation and displacement.

Black people are genetic experts at dislocation and assimilation, what with centuries of practice, we come to this place with authority and grief. However, Saturday, July 30 at the fifth OG or Original Good Community Barbecue, children, youth and adults had a chance to mingle, eat, and enjoy the chance to introduce Gen X to those elders who made this city situated between Silicon Valley giants— Palo Alto and Menlo Park, what it was, if not what it is now.

The Original Good Community Barbecue, year five, located at the Cesar Chavez Elementary School not far from the Dumbarton Bridge, was full of laughter and fun as multiple generations ate the delicious barbecued links, chicken and beef patties, potato salad, chips, cake, and drank soda as they admired the classic cars and walked the impressive track while kids climbed on the play structure or played soccer and other games. Organizers (21 strong) wore yellow shirts with a heart in its logo. Most of the men formerly incarcerated or convicted persons (FICP), said their goal with the family barbecue was to reunite the community which has been losing touch with one another. Food, sunshine and pleasant company is a winning combination for success.

Game changers all their lives, the older and wiser, founding members: Vernis James, Dorsey Nunn, Robert L. Hamel, Dan Rougeaux, “Original Good,” not “Original Gangsters,” wanted to model through activities like the barbecue how “good deeds” can transform community.  The barbecues are also an opportunity for East Palo Alto residents, whom are majority black and Latino, to support community development which is interpersonal— The large numbers at the first barbecue in 2009 at Flood Park in Menlo Park, meant the OGs had to find a bigger venue for the next event. The men did not ask for donations, instead they dug deeply into their pockets to make sure there was enough food so everyone could eat his or her fill while having a relaxing time at the park. The 21 men spend thousands of personal dollars collectively to make this event a highlight of the summer. Last year, the OGs fed 2,000 people. This year, they might have topped that.

All South Bay residents, Henry Lopez, an OG member said his family emigrated from Mexico to East Palo Alto in 1969. In 1954, Mr. Bailey’s family was the first black family to move into all white subdivision called the East Palo Alto Gardens. Prior to that blacks lived in another part of EPA called Mid-town. There is a section in EPA where all the streets are named after these black pioneering families. I hadn’t known about the early black homeowners who moved from San Francisco projects down the peninsula to Menlo Park and East Palo Alto which at that time was unincorporated. Dorsey Nunn, one of the OG hosts, says that when his parents bought their house it was $20,000. Now it has appreciated to $800,000. Facebook is just down the street from him and the corporation is buying up property then leveling blocks of homes to build apartments for its 5000 employees.

To get and maintain better erections you need a greater blood flow in your penis when you are sexually excited, leading to an erection. viagra order uk The great news for men suffering with this which actually can be appeased by using anti-impotence pills called https://www.unica-web.com/tatrachamois2010.pdf levitra on line. levitra is one of the best male enhancement pills worldwide. If you have any hesitation to ask for the drug marketed under the names online levitra prescription , Magara, Epigram, Seagra etc. pharmacy shop here on line cialis For that purpose, the technicians will check the belt that operates the blower. Lisa Yarbrough-Gauthier, former Mayor of East Palo Alto (2014-2015), now a Council member (2016), walked through the event greeting everyone with humor and a smile. It was evident that she was the kind of civic leader and native daughter the community both knew and trusted. She asked Dorsey for information to handout to formerly incarcerated or convicted persons (FICP) who wanted to register to vote. Other information handed out at the Live Scan booth was a pamphlet with information on Prop 47 which was a list of convictions which could be erased from eligible FICPs’ records.

As I was talking to OG Dorsey Nunn, who invited me to the barbecue, people started moving towards us from another direction in a hurry. I didn’t hear anything but it looked as if the people moving were afraid. We learned that two youth had an altercation, and one youth pulled up his shirt to show a gun in his pocket and then ran. This was the first time in five years this had ever happened.  Dorsey and other OGs did not allow the disturbance to interrupt or dismiss the day’s success as they mingled and greeted their guests who, at 5:30 p.m. had already begun to pack tents, chairs and tables. Mr. Roosevelt Jordan, the organization’s secretary, said this is the reason why the men host these community barbecues, to promote peace. Just by word of mouth, the OG party in the ‘hood attracts more people than the annual Juneteenth. People attend who no longer live in East Palo Alto, because East Palo Alto (“Little Nairobi”) is still home. The OGs are family. Dorsey Nunn, a White House Champion of Change for his work in the Ban the Box Campaign (2016), says the OGs might not have been the perfect son or grandson; however, they are doing the honorable thing now. Dan Rougeaux, retired Longshoreman, and other OG members agree.

Nunn, Executive Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and a founding member of All of Us or None, was greeted like a celebrity as he introduced me to childhood friends and to his older sister, Joyce. Respected and admired, Nunn, like the other OGs are loved because they love their community back. Nunn is also steering committee member of the Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted Peoples and Families Movement which is having its first national conference at the Oakland Hilton, Sept. 9-11. Friday, Sept. 9 is a solidarity work stoppage and fast to end prison slavery.

Once the police were called and then arrived, what I noticed in the men was a resoluteness to continue. The OGs were not discouraged not deterred from their vision. One OG shook his head and said, “this is the first time the police have ever been at one of our events. You’re not going to print this in your story, are you?” I smiled noncommittedly.

The shimmering oasis did not dissipate. A little turbulence might have rippled the serenity of the moment, but the joy people experienced did not go away. I am sure next year the Original Good Barbecue will be bigger and better than the previous five. Stay tuned. To find out about other OG activities, fundraisers, family holiday party, and the Community Toy Giveaway this fall, visit http://www.epaemporiginalgood.com

 

Art & Politics
Access Via Exposure (AVE) and Reimagine!  Present: “I Am San Francisco: Black Past and Presence” Exhibition

The City College of San Francisco Rosenberg Library (CCSF) will host a reception for the mixed media exhibition I Am San Francisco: Black Past and Presence which will include a release party for “Power in Place” the latest issue of Race, Poverty and Environment (RP&E)—the national journal for social and environmental justice published by Reimagine!. This event will take place at the 3^rd floor atrium and room 305 of CCSF’s Rosenberg Library at 50 Phelan Avenue from 5 PM to 7:30 PM on September 22, 2016.

The public is invited to join us for exhibition viewing, refreshments, presentations and performances. San Francisco Poet Laureate, Devorah Major will be performing excerpts from her play “Classic Black,” which also looks at the history and contribution of blacks in San Francisco.   For information contact: Jarrel Phillips, Exhibition Curator and Lead Artist, 415.350.2222 / jarrelp@gmail.com / avesidea.org / reimaginerpe.org

Theatre

Actor Dameion Brown as “Othello” in the Marin Shakespeare Company’s production, is getting standing ovations. since the production started. Still in previews Brown who told Marin Shakespeare Company Artistic Director, Lesley Currier that he wanted to play the African warrior, “Othello,” has with this role had a dream come true.

Since MSC production of “Othello” opened, August 26 for previews, Brown is a Formerly Incarcerated or Convicted Person (FICP), just released after serving 23 years of a life sentence.  Brown played Macduff in Solano State Prison’s Macbeth in 2015 under the direction of Lesley Currier as part of Marin Shakespeare’s Arts-in-Corrections programs funded by the California Arts Council and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He is delighted to be giving back to the community through his work at Community Works West, teaching parenting skills with the EPIC Program – Empowering Parents In Our Community – and cultural awareness classes with an emphasis on anger management and conflict resolution. He is a Case Manager for Transitional Age Youth (TAY), helping youth ages 18 to 25 realize they can make better choices about their lives. Visit http://marinshakespeare.org/tickets/  The performances are at Forest Meadows, 890 Belle Ave. San Rafael CA

Berkeley Arts Festival presents: Solitary Man: My Visit to Pelican Bay State Prison with Jazz Improvisation with Charlie Hinton & Bill Crossman. Directed by Mark Kenward

Take the dose about 40 minutes before the love making begins as this is the normal time of copulation that you get after taking the known buy levitra deeprootsmag.org. This drug is well known to be very effective in generico levitra on line treating pulmonary disease and stress in men. Every single guy you can try here sildenafil delivery who used these magic pills for once, is using it again and again, and recommending it to everyone. It was proven that women viagra online aside from its side effects, Penegra cannot also be combined with other medications such as nitroglycerin for angina (heart problem). Two performances: Friday, September 23 • 8:00 p.m. is a benefit for Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition. Sunday, September 25 • 4:00 p.m. is a benefit for Black Lives Matter. Venue: 2133 University Ave. Berkeley (between Shattuck and Walnut)

Charlie created Solitary Man based on letters and visits with prisoners in Pelican Bay SHU/solitary confinement. The show takes place in November, 2014, a year after the largest prisoner hunger strike in history. Pianist Bill Crossman will improvise music throughout the performance. Afterwards, we will have an update about Pelican Bay and the “security/welfare” checks that are waking up prisoners every 30 minutes in solitary confinement units throughout CA.  Suggested Donation $5-10, no one turned away Facebook: /solitarymantheplay

Dance
Congratulations to Raissa Simpson on her MFA this Spring, and on her upcoming 4^th PUSHfest, Friday-Sunday, September 23-25. Ms. Simpson’s new work, an Afrofuturism piece, collaboration with composer, Erica Mulkey: “Mothership,” is in Program A only.

PUSH Dance Company presents PUSHfest, a mixed-genre (modern, ballet, hip-hop, ethnic, and multi-disciplinary) dance festival that situates 18 mid-career and emerging choreographers in two different and exciting programs at ODC Theater, 3153 17^th Street, San Francisco, Friday-Sunday, September 23-25, 2016.

Four Shows – Program A: Friday, Sept. 23 at 8pm and Sunday Matinee, Sept 25 at 4pm; Program B: Saturday, Sept 24 at 8pm and Sunday Evening, Sept 25 at 7pm.

ODC Theater, 3153 Mission Street at Shotwell, San Francisco, CA 94110. Tickets for PUSHfest are priced $30 general admission, $28 advance, $15 Senior\Student, $50 festival pass for both programs, and may be purchased at http://www.pushdance.org/festival.

On the Fly:
Justice Now! All Access–Oakland for Abortion Rights at New Parkway Theatre in Oakland
Sept. 10, 4:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. https://www.facebook.com/events/1714749882123850/  Justice Now, Join ACCESS Women’s Health Justice, and Shanelle Matthews as we take over the New Parkway Theater to livestream the All Access 2016 event, a night of music and comedy taking place in cities across the U.S. to celebrate the vibrant majority of Americans who support an individual’s right to access abortion. With a headlining event in Cleveland, satellite events in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Miami and Chicago, and 30+ local events across the country, All Access will show that we stand together to ensure equitable access to abortion in every community. Livestream performances by: Sia, Natalia LaFourcade, Leslie Jones, Host Jessica Williams, and more. Tickets are $10.  White Man on a Bus by Bruce Graham @ Flight Deck in Oakland Sept. 15-24, 1540 Broadway, Oakland. For tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2580683 Live video interview with playwright following the Sept. 17, 8 p.m. performance. Tickets: $5 (youth); $15 (adult, preview).  Synopsis: Ray, a wealthy white business executive, rides the bus through a struggling black neighborhood and past the state penitentiary every Saturday. For many on the bus it doesn’t make sense. Why would a rich, white, businessman give up his life of luxury to ride a bus? On his weekly ride, Ray befriends Shatique, a young African-American woman putting herself through school and battling to raise a son on her own. As they get to know each other the threads that tie them together gradually unravel in a complex web of moral ambiguity, race, privilege, and revenge.  Theatre Rhinoceros presents… THE BROTHERS SIZE by Tarell Alvin McCraney, directed by Darryl V. Jones, Sept. 24 – Oct. 15, 2016, at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., (at Battery St.) in San Francisco. Visit www.TheRhino.org  Joyce Gordon Gallery’s 13^th Anniversary Exhibition Season continues with “Artmatism and Geometic Abstraction: Bill Dallas and John Whitehead,” Sept. 2-Oct. 1. The artist reception and talk are Friday, Sept. 2, 6-9 p.m. (Talk at 7 p.m.). JGG is located at 406 14^th Street, Oakland. Gallery Phone: 510.465.8928 Poetry at the Beat Museum in San Francisco: “Positive Change, By Any Means Necessary” This event is for 100 Thousand Poets for Change, Saturday, September 24, from 2 to 6 pm. Charles Blackwell is one of the featured poets. Also at the Beat Museum this month is the 9^th Annual Beat Museum Poetry Festival, Sat.-Sun., Sept. 17-18. The Beat Museum is located at 540 Columbus Street in San Francisco.  Brava presents: TYPE/CASTE, A Solo Show About Acting While Black (& Queer) (http://www.rotimionline.com/Type/Caste)Written and Performed by Rotimi Agbabiaka, Directed by Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe at Brava Studio, September 15-October 1, 2016, Thursday-Saturday | 8pm Synopsis: A queer, black actor dreams of a dazzling career on the American stage but will first have to leap over obstacles placed by an industry that isn’t always welcoming to applicants who are neither white nor straight.