Honor and Respect Iya Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth Day is Nov. 26, 2021

Ramsess, artist, Quilt 48X60 (https://ramsessart.com/)

Sorrow fills my shoes like standing water at dusk. . . Time does not still. We lose our bearings when day is night. Perpetually seasoned loss. Bodies in white sacks fill holes lined with lime. Anonymity haunts burial sites. Massive grave pinpoints, people’s tombstones, illuminate night skies. 

Sojourner where are you? You who took care of so many. . . sing us a lullaby.  I feel her footsteps growing closer.   
 
 A woman without boundaries, she put on her shoes. . . feet worn. Uneven she walked upright, yet couldn’t shake white master, her adoptive father whom she loved. It was a kind of love that undoes. . . loosens the threads before they unravel, before the they are pulled together in the back where love marks, mar the terrain – that crooked territory she left with baby Abigail, Peter at sea. 
 
 The rugged cross the road less traveled.
 
The male bodied white men kept pulling her back, she who wanted to please her white father. . . a father she loved and hated. Bruised and battered Sojourner left Isabella, Columbus’s queen. . . he set sale on another coast. Captured Africans still profitable built that nation’s from a sea to another sea, Pacific Atlantic. . . . 
 
Why were her boundaries so fluid? She wanted a home. Home was not bondage—Wandering, her name Sojourner a fitting title for her inherited life, she published and then sold the rights too. No, she didn’t sell the copyright. She controlled her legacy which is why we know her so well today. 
 
I am going out like a shooting star, she said to those who wept by her bedside. Don’t you know this person is not me? It’s a house I am renting for a short time. 
 
I walk too. I can walk without pain. I time myself and can get to the other side of the street in less than 5 seconds. I watch the light turn red just as I clear the sidewalk and cars turn on my heels. 
 
Boundaries? 
 
If I am not safe in a crosswalk on a green light?
 
Why aren’t woman’s words respected? Why do we or why are we asked to negotiate our property lines. . . give up our borders for fallow plots where nothing grows except broken promises? Can’t stop now. Too many Black women’s lives line the highways I tread. 
 
Sojourner traded in her corsets for freedom.  Tall, straight and slim, she traded in feminine opportunity for freedom. She traded in wombfulness while white women sold their bodies for marketable trade. 

Stocks fell whenever Sojourner appeared. She, Harriet Jacobs, Hannah Craft, Harriet Wilson. . . .all of them were more valuable as human beings than the plastic wares (wives) she/they knew. 
 
They sat dusty in the mercantile store where one could carry her home for a nickel. All sales final. 
 
What is it about a woman’s boundaries that male bodied persons deem negotiable? Is hell negotiable? How does sin get you a ticket to the show? 
 
I want off the bill. 
 
Mama Sojourner’s walk was long and the road uneven and circuitous. There were a lot of women on the road after slavery ended. Like traveling salespersons, they traded evidence – humanity – peoplehood for chattel and parcels.
 
Look at me—they cried. But smoke screens billowed where their faces sat in marble, granite. How does one move from a ledger to a seat at a table one set?  

Sister Abby said: Throw it away. If a thing belongs to you, it belongs to you. . . . 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2OO3vuk3r4

Virtual Ancestor Altar

Add your ancestor story to the Virtual MAAFA Ancestor Altar. See: https://padlet.com/maafasfbayarea/Bookmarks

World AIDS Day 2021 — Three (3) Programs

World AIDS Day is recognized annually on December 1, as a way for people to unite in the fight against HIV, show support for those living with HIV, and commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. Gladstone scientists were instrumental in converting HIV/AIDS from a uniformly lethal disease into a chronic condition and they continue their work as we continue to search for a cure.

Register HERE.

Film
Blue Eye Shadow

True story of two Richmond (CA) brothers comes to the small screen. The World AIDS Day broadcast premiere of Blue Eye Shadow is, Wednesday, December 1, 5:30pm to 6:00pm on KOFY-TV. LifeLong Medical Care hosts follow up discussion with HIV experts

Eddrick Jerome, filmmaker, says he “wrote Blue Eye Shadow to honor the life of my late brother Eddie, who we lost (to the AIDS virus) in 1995. Though it’s a deeply personal story, I feel audiences will embrace our story and relate it to their own family stories. I’m proud of the way the project developed from a short story, to a stage play, and ultimately a short film. I hope viewers enjoy the film and watch it in honor of their loved ones who have been lost to HIV/AIDS,” Eddrick Jerome, filmmaker.

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Film

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A Review and Interview with Dr. Nathalie Dougé

Matthew Heineman’s “The First Wave” (National Geographic Documentary Films 2021) looks at the Covid-19 crisis in the early months of 2020 among NYC’s most vulnerable populations, folks who were at risk, not because they had pre-existing conditions like diabetes, obesity, asthma or hypertension— it was the melanin that stained or marked them at birth. These sick people were already fitted for systemic racialized jackets. By the time they showed up in Dr. Dougé’s emergency room it was a race against all clocks turned back.

When I heard about the film, I asked if there were any Black people in it. I learned, not only were there Black people, the starring role was held by 35-year-old Dr. Nathalie Dougé, internist and hospitalist at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) in Queens.

The director, Heineman says, “By the third week of March, New York City had become the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. We were not only in the hardest hit city, but we were in the hardest hit hospital within the state’s largest healthcare system (Northwell Health).”

It is an intense 93 minutes. The concise and riveting trailer has one on the edge if not her seat. However, these aren’t actors. When there is a flat line, the patient doesn’t get up after a commercial break. The tears are real. The prayers nurses like Kellie Wunnsch, carry home in their pockets are real too as are the cases the film follows, Brussels Jabon, licensed practical nurse, born in Davao, Philippines, a sick mother who gives birth to a healthy son but he has to go home with his aunt and uncle because dad and grandfather and grandmother all have the virus. Her husband, parents and sister are all nurses.

We meet Ahmed Ellis (36) who is a school police officer. He is very sick too. Will he make it? He has a new baby daughter, Ava (2 now) and an older son, Austin (5). His wife, Alexis, is a child life specialist within hospitals. Ellis like Dr. Dougé, is first generation American. His family is from the small South American nation, Guyana.

We also meet others patients whom are speaking to family on iPads one minute and later, Dr. Dougé is calling the same family to say their loved one has died suddenly.  Nothing is as expected. We see nurses and other medical personnel putting on protective clothing. We think about last year’s PPE shortages (and recent nurse strikes in California). We see staff have a moment of silence for patients before they put the bodies in protective sealed bags. We see an area where the dead are stored and remember that Covid-19 is still contagious after death.

2020 is the year George Floyd was killed on Memorial Day. The irony of a senseless killing when so many are dying in the nation’s over crowded medical facilities is not lost on medical workers who stage a silent protest. It is a powerful moment in the film where we see all the doctors, nurses and other medical professionals stand in solidarity with the BLM movement.

Dr. Dougé speaks to a young man who wants a policeman to acknowledge his pain. She tells him to go home to his people who love him. She tells him this moment is not worth his life. I think about the people who have turned their bodies into bombs. Dr. Dougé’s acknowledgement humanizes the situation and we see the youth hug her and cry.

We can do this for each other. Dr. Dougé says in a recent interview. She says there are not enough Black people, let alone Black women physicians in popular culture or cinema. She says this film can change this. She is still Black; she says she did not leave her people behind when she stepped into her current position. I think about other jobs she could have chosen, yet she decided to work in an emergency room—ground zero for Black and Brown people, poor people, people without insurance.

A Dogon descendant, Dr. Dougé is Sirius (smile). We have a lovely conversation. She knows wellness is only possible when we all commit to it. She said the public urgency is gone, yet the threat has not lessened.  She says we need to have more community discussions so that people can protect themselves from infection. In this way, we can all stay healthy.

Just a simple thing like wearing a mask is met with resistance. Dr. Dougé was in LA the week following SF Doc Stories for another festival preceding the National Geographic digital screening, Nov. 19, debut.

“The First Wave” is an important document for those who work in the medical field, but more so for the survivors and their families, for citizens who take their health for granted and for everyone who likes a good story with powerful themes and lasting impressions.

This is that film. Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction had it right. A true story in the hands of a master craftsman like Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and native New Yorker, Matthew Heineman, is a powerful tool for change. Let’s hope the right people see it– all of us.

The interview:
After a grueling day with the press, I wanted to acknowledge Dr. Dougé tenacity and perhaps fatigue—flight across the country for the screening and then a flight back home to work. I shared with her that I’d included her in my morning meditation and sent her metta or loving kindness. We sat across from each other in a Zoom room.

Wanda Sabir: Alice Walker has a book called, “We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For.” In her book she shares chakra meditations with her audience.

There’s a meditation that I did for you today while I was meditating on loving kindness. This is the card. I just wanted to tell you that you were in my heart and I want to wish you peace. May you have love. May you have strength and may you have everything you need to be able to do this important work ’cause you know, we with you sister, but you got the skill set.

Dr. Dougé: Thank you so much. When I tell you the Lord knows what I need. And I appreciate you. Thank you for this opportunity.  And its people like you, honestly, that you don’t even know me, and it’s that additional support that is actually helping myself along as well as so many of us who are still going through this.

Wanda Sabir: Yes ’cause people think it’s all over, but it’s not all over and typically we know with constituency you serve, our people. I hadn’t known there was a name for the doctor that works in the hospital— you are a hospitalist.

I also want to echo American Idol judge, Lionel Richie’s shout out and thanks that he gave you for your good work sister—thank you so much.

Your works centers COVID-19, and you know firsthand that the “first wave” has entered a second and third wave as the health emergency continues. The Covid-19 situation is similar to the way HIV and AIDS devastated and continues to devastate Black community. How does a Black woman navigate a system that is, as Dr. Uché Blackstock states, is antithetical to Black wellness, Black human-ness. She speaks of the systemic microaggressions that permeate the industry so much so, these acculturated norms are inextricable from the practice of medicine, the training of doctors in medical schools—and then there is you (smile). Black woman, Haitian immigrant. Who are your role models? What footsteps are you standing in?

Dr. Uché Blackstock, New Yorker and daughter of a Black woman doctor (Dr. Dale Gloria Blackstock), she and her sister Oni, Harvard University legacy medical students says: “People think of medicine as innovative and pushing the limits, but it is probably one of the most conservative environments I have ever been in. [Racism and sexism, poor patient care, unconscious bias impacts the pool of Black and Latinx women doctors which is shrinking].”

Dr. Dougé who is Latinx and Black, says that Dr. Oni Blackstock, Dr. Uché Blackstock’s twin sister, was her attending physician “’cause [she] trained at Montefiore Medical Center. So there is a connection there already. I love her. I never met her sister Uché but I love them.

Yeah, and then you know her father was an immigrant and they are second generation physicians.  The racism and the sexism and the unconscious bias continues.

We shift to talk about Haiti after the recent killing of the president, natural disasters, civil unrest. I ask her how her family is. Dr. Dougé says most of her family is here in America; however, those distant cousins still there are managing the chaos.

She says, “It’s still that sense of uncertainty. Unfortunately, people are living through that scarcity mindset because you just never know between the political and the social unrest and all economic instability there. But fortunately for myself, the people that I know, they seem to be doing okay.”

WS: Excellent, excellent. So I’ve got these questions. I’ve got too many. As a first generation Haitian American, growing up in the Bronx, how did this affect your career choice? Why would you intentionally go into this work?

Dr. Dougé: Honestly, Haitian parents, they love them a doctor or a lawyer or any one of those fields. For me, I personally get true joy, and I am passionate with getting to meet people and to be able to connect with them. On top of it, I am mentally challenged and stimulated through science.

I excelled in it, and I appreciate, and I’m in awe of like the human body and [its] inner workings. That marriage between those two joys of mine led me to the path of medicine in terms of it as a way for me to connect with people despite their backgrounds, because when you’re sick, you’re sick, OK.

That kind of helped propel me into the world of medicine where I can help people maintain or get to a quality of life that’s sustainable for them to live the life that they want.

WS: Yes, and you’re young.  Aren’t you like early 30s or something?

Dr. Dougé: Thanks and thank you for saying that 30s is still young.  I am 35. Thank you, thank you. My little cousin doesn’t think so. She’s like, ‘Oh my. Gosh, she’s like old (me).’

WS: Yeah, I really love the scene in the film where you have a virtual birthday party. I think it’s a surprise.

Dr. Douge: I know, I know. ’cause at that moment I was so unfamiliar with Zoom. Even now I am not the best Zoom guru.  UM, so when my sister told me oh it was supposed to be like a couple of people, that’s what they told me for my birthday and she’s like you gotta click the link and you gotta do this, I’m like what are you talking about?

Like Oh my God, this is a lot, and then all of a sudden I see a pop-up of faces [saying] ‘Happy birthday!’ and at that moment to be to visually see how loved I am and appreciated, that just gave me such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and joy.  I felt blessed at that moment, because I was struggling.

I was constantly seeing death in the hospital and when I saw [family and friends] on the screen I knew that they were OK, like no one was sick and it just was phenomenal.  I’m forever grateful to my sister for putting it together and to everyone who showed up ’cause I am definitely blessed in terms of my support system and who I have in my life.

WS: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that was a beautiful moment. There’s so many beautiful moments in the film where we’re sort of taken away from the urgency of the of the illness.

Dr. Dougé:  You know doctors and other folks that can’t stay home can’t be, you know, be distanced because we need to keep working.

WS: Yes, NYC appreciated you during the First Wave and I just love those moments in the film juxtaposed against the fear and unknown elements of Covid-19 you were and continue to battle.

There is a scene where you put on your mask and sign and go to a BLM protest against police violence. You put yourself between a young Black man and an armed police man.  This man is consumed with grief and rage. That’s a such a beautiful moment.

Dr. Dougé: So don’t get it wrong, I love a compliment and I appreciate being perceived as being fierce, but at that moment, at these moments, it really boils down to we are human beings. We want to be seen. We want to be heard fully and wholly.

When I met that gentleman, I didn’t know who he was. I’ve never met this boy in my life. He’s not a boy. I apologize— I take that back.

When I overheard him talking to that police officer, he literally came for a truce. [He did not want to be envision[ed] as a target. He said: I am not someone who’s less than you. I am not someone who automatically should be feared or whose life is not worthy of living.

He just wanted to be acknowledged, and when that wasn’t reciprocated, like when he did not get that acknowledgement, that’s where the trigger kind of got set off for him or that’s how I kind of saw it and I just couldn’t stomach, I couldn’t, my soul couldn’t take another senseless loss of life or some harm to a to a black male body, to a black person.

So at that moment I’m not thinking as a hero, ’cause I don’t see myself as a hero. I was thinking— I’m this this gentleman’s sister. This could be my cousin. This could be whomever, and he has people who love him and would be devastated if something happened to him, so I said ‘not on my watch.’ So whatever I could do to kind of intercede at that moment, that’s what I ultimately ended up doing, just to give a sense of validation. That you are seen [Black man]. You are heard. You have a community behind you. You have a tribe that you may not see. You may not know, but we are rooting for you. That’s the kind of the [thoughts] that were all running through my mind at the time.

WS: We have seen footage of peaceful protesters being met with excessive force just before this moment on camera, by these same New York policemen and women so you know—it was a tense moment.  It wasn’t something that we (film audience) could say: ‘Oh, she’s overreacting? No.’ There was a clear possibility that this kid, this young person – (everybody young when you’re 60 (smile), could be injured.

Dr. Dougé: 60 is still young in my book. 60s are the new 40.

WS:  Uh, yeah. So you embraced him and then we could see him feel the love he needed in that moment—his agency restored. That was just such a beautiful moment to witness.

I’m just so happy you said yes to Matthew Heineman, the director, around this film because you could have said, ‘Oh man, like one more thing to manage as we’re trying to like figure this thing out—Covid-19.

What made you say yes so we can have this this story.

Dr. Dougé: So, here’s the thing.  Initially, when I was informed about there’s gonna be someone coming into the hospital to kind of document what’s happening . . . I pride myself and trying to be as transparent as possible. I am an open book, so I figured that this is an opportunity, finally, where someone like myself, who’s female, who’s Black, who is a physician, has a chance to speak up and be seen and to allow people to see a different perspective that still may be relatable, even though it’s not your life.

For me, there’s but so many conversations I could have like, ‘Oh my gosh, the hospital’s crazy like. . .  but some many words to articulate all that we were seeing in the hospital . . . but when you have cameras that are able to give vantage points that I even didn’t get to see (until the screening).  It allows people to see a whole picture and then internalize it and see how it’s applicable to themselves, and then that in return is a way to advocate for what we deserve, for what we want, and for a better quality of life.

So I just feel like I’m a vessel for change at times and if I could be that then I’m on. Be it.

WS: Yeah, yeah, because you know it is cinema verite.  We know you weren’t acting. We know this was and is a crisis. I don’t know how the cameras were set up, but it seemed that they didn’t get in your way of just being able to do the work that you do.

But yeah, those moments we witness your staff grieving and other times successfully saving a life(s). You mention how these sick people present a challenge because medical staff does not know what to expect. Covid-19 is so different because normal protocols do not always work. Diagnoses and treatment are sometimes incorrect.

What’s going on? And then you can have a treatment and you have medicine and the person gets better. In this instance people were getting better and then. What happened, you know? And yeah, yeah it was, gosh.

Dr. Dougé: The chaos was unfathomable, especially in the beginning between the lack of PPE so.

There are so much, there’s so much that still wasn’t shown from the film like Matt, and the team did an amazing job getting the Sense, but when you live the day today, working in such chaos, initially it was in a in a way organized chaos. But we’re literally running from one end to the other end of the hospital. We’re running, trying to find the materials we need to do care we’re having. All this additional gowns and masks and all that stuff. The physicality of being a physician at that time was actually way different, like we were working under such different conditions than we were used to.  So on top of that, conquering a new entity of this disease, the syndrome where one minute a patient we think may be recovering, but then, uh, complication occurs that sets this ongoing chain reaction that no matter what we do at this point the ultimate ending or outcome is not what we want and people are suffering and losing life. It is a tough thing to work through, and to process and to witness so being able to have this [film] at this point is literally a historical document to some degree where we have what it was like in real time. How New York City had to deal with this pandemic.

WS:  I get the two-minute signal from the publicist.  Alright, so I wanted to end with Mars because, but there’s a question before Mars.

I am channeling Sojourner Truth, who was enslaved in New York who became a prominent spokesperson for her people’s liberation and women’s rights. A land rover was named after her for a mission on Mars.

Yeah, and there’s a stamp you know with the Rover. It’s not recent I’ll send you the information if you  don’t know about it.  So I was I was out last night looking for Mars ’cause I know you can see Mars. Towards the end of the year it becomes more visible. You know the little Red Planet.

I was just thinking About Sojourner Truth and Mars and the ancestors and what keeps you going. What keeps you getting up? What keeps you going in everyday to the hospital?

Where do you find your hope? I just wanted, you know, to ask you that. And if you want to do shout-outs, that’s fine too.

The other question which you could answer first is between first wave and now what are some of the lessons learned? Is the situation better? If so, how? You know, for your team.

Uhm, if they’re better, I know we don’t hear about it. ‘Cause everything is opening up, but people are still getting sick and there’s some high numbers.  I’m in California and we have a high number of people with active cases of COVID-19 and more people are getting infected. The vaccination of children has been approved. However, children are becoming infected at a high rate.

Dr. Dougé: So in terms of the state of where we are in terms of healthcare from last year to this year? The only difference I feel is the urgency, the public urgency to act, to help end this pandemic has gone down. I feel that last year people outside of the medical field’s goal were doing whatever they could, whether it was to stay at home, wear masks, do whatever they could because, one, fear of the pandemic, of getting COVID or spreading it to loved ones. That urgency was there.  That [urgency] actually helped us get out the first pandemic, ’cause there was no vaccine. So we’ve lost that urgency and now have become complacent to our detriment, We’ve lost to some degree that sense of like additional support for the health care workers.

We were getting applause, initially at 7:00 PM in New York City every day to thank us for what we’re doing –(another great moment in the film—there is also music). That has all subsided, but we’re still working through a skeleton crew because mentally, a lot of us have left because enduring such trauma day in and day out takes a toll physically, mentally, all that other stuff, and now I feel that we have been given tools with the vaccine, with the mask mandates, with all this stuff to help prevent unnecessary suffering, but because people don’t like how the message was initially, possibly brought out there, people have not been as receptive.

I do feel that what I’ve seen is that the human mind Is a powerful thing, and it can change. It can transform for the better. I’ve seen people be gung ho: ‘Oh, I don’t want a vaccine. I don’t want this. I don’t want that,’ but when given the time to talk to people, not lecture, not just tell them what to do—when you have a real discourse on fears, on concerns and actually have truth and honesty and transparency from people who don’t have a hidden agenda –you are able to see at the end of the day that we all want the same thing. We want a better quality of life. How we get there is what the discussion is about right now.

This is just one of many ways to have a better quality of life. To stop this unnecessary suffering, to stop having health care workers work through this trauma day in and day out, to stop having loved ones burying people too soon, too early. If we focus on literally our individual action(s) to promote the collective well-being we will be so much better as a society.

And this is also applicable to racism, because this film also points that out. It puts a magnifying glass [to] it. Complacency is the enemy. The loss of urgency leads to inaction.

That has got to stay persistent for us to stop this inertia that we’re going through of not moving or being OK with being good instead of being great. We’ve learned a lot through this these past 20 months or so. We can support each other through crises.  We are not alone. Our feelings are not so all the time unique if we seek to some degree that support or that additional. . .  I’m a loss of words, but if we seek within each other as well as listen to ourselves, our bodies, we’ve lost touch between the mind and the body, a lot of us [have] because we’ve keep working through, go, go, go, go, go, go, go – Slowing down doesn’t mean you’re not being productive.

Taking rest is just as important as exercising, so it’s finding that sense of stability that we’re looking for not just balance. So long story short, there’s a lot that we can do as an individual, as individuals, but collectively when we work for a common goal, that’s the true way to end the pandemic of COVID-19 as well as racism.

WS: I like the way you tie them together and so we’ll close on your talking about Mars, your guardian spirit.

Dougé: Yes, that’s Mars. He’s out of this world. He’s my Guardian Angel in animal form. UM, because he was the one thing that I thought could give me that rejuvenation without having to give anything in return. Actually like he was able to give me that sense of unbridled appreciation, gratefulness that I don’t have to worry about getting him sick.

I didn’t feel like I was ever a burden like unleashing what I was feeling to someone else or what I was scared about.  He opened me to different parts of the city.  I’m in New York City, but like when I [began] to walk with Mars, [I was] able to see different parks and really listen to nature, ’cause prior to having a dog, I drove everywhere. I did not take a simple walk outside. Just to walk so pet therapy is real. I feel like every institution should have pet therapy. It works. He’s my baby. I love him. I think he saved me honestly mentally.

WS: I hope I hope he keeps on saving you, and that we get past this and you don’t have to worry about being well and staying well. Thank you so much for your work and thank you for saying yes to Matthew Heineman to do this film. ‘Cause it is a marvelous document.

Dr. Dougé:  First of all, it’s so crazy how I’m like, oh thank goodness there’s more black people ’cause that’s the thing like people don’t acknowledge. It [isn’t] enough that I don’t see a lot of me in healthcare, on the giving side, like when it comes to and even like I see more nurses and like the aids, they’re more from like minority backgrounds but when you go higher up on that chain there is less and less of us. But it doesn’t mean that once we got up to here, we are disconnected from where we were or where we’ve come from or who we are, because we are one and one. We’re all human.

So to see that resilient of a black man going through what our Med went through that ranked when he sits up. That is the spirit that I want everyone to embody, but especially my black people.

That we have an inner strength that a lot of us don’t tap into ’cause we get distracted by all of what society puts on us. Yeah, I’m sorry, I’m rambling, but the film is just so I think Matt and the team did a great job of really showing the essence of the human spirit, the experience, the complexities.

WS: That’s OK.

Dr. Dougé:  Uhm, the triumphs, the trauma, the turmoil yet the beauty that when we look into each other’s eyes. It says so much. Like we have 5 senses for a reason; we don’t always have to talk, but looking, seeing, smelling, hearing each other. It all matters.

WS: Looking for the book. Yeah, and how do you pronounce your name?

Dr. Dougé: So it’s Nathalie DJ.

WS: DJ, yeah, pretty.

Dr. Dougé: Thank you so much Wanda.

WS:  Well, thank you. It’s been really, really lovely. In theaters November 19th, I really hope everyone sees it.  Yeah, so your family has your family seen it.

Dr. Dougé:  So some like only like my close view like my parents saw, but they haven’t seen it on like the big screen surround sound and my sister has seen it, but now a lot of my family hasn’t and I’m excited for them to see that. Their support [is important] part of who I am. I am because of them. [In the film they will] see how they supported me, but [it will] also to show them that what I do and what people like me do is not easy and we’re still.

Struggling to some degree to continue this work and we’re just trying to find different outlets to keep going.

WS: Right, right, yeah? Well, the synchronicity. Has been really awesome, you know around Drs. Blackwell.

Dr. Dougé: I know isn’t that great. Yeah, that’s crazy. I got it so.  I think she’s on her birthday just passed their birthdays just passed (Nov. 4).

So they’re on vacation, but I haven’t seen her like in person for a while, but I would love to reconnect with her and I got to Meet her sister now, yeah?

WS:  Oh yeah, totally, totally well. You take good care and enjoy the rest of your afternoon and let’s totally Be in touch.

Dr. Dougé:  Absolutely, absolutely take care bye-bye.

Obits
Papa Zak, Ase!

The Baobab is an ancient African tree that symbolizes power, longevity, strength and grace. It can live more than 1,000 years, carrying within it infinite wisdom and sacred medicine. Also called the “tree of life,” it is not uncommon to refer to a revered wisdom keeper as a Baobab.

On October 9, 2021, a most beloved and majestic Baobab, Dr. Zakarya Sao Diouf,  transitioned from this life, leaving an indelible mark on the Bay Area arts community and a vast legacy of cultural excellence whose impact is felt throughout the world.

Dr. Zakarya Sao Diouf was born on February 12, 1938 to Nene Diop and Ousseynou Diouf in Kaolack, Senegal.  His most cherished childhood memories were in Medina, Dakar, where he was raised. As a little boy, he would use his mom’s pots and pans to make music, until she tired of all the wear and tear and bought him some bongos. From the beginning, music was a part of him. As a teenager and young adult in Medina, he was known as one of the best dancers, and soon joined The Mali Ensemble, a multinational music and dance company representing West African unity amongst the countries of Mali, Senegal, and Guinea. 

It was The Mali Ensemble that launched Dr. Diouf’s career as a dancer, artistic director, master drummer, choreographer, leading world artist and educator. He went on to have a distinguished career in Senegal as the Artistic Director of L’Ensemble du Mali (1963) and the National Ballet of Senegal (1964-68). In 1966, at the First World Festival of Negro Arts, Dr. Zakarya Diouf met Ms. Katherine Dunham, a famous African American dancer and pioneering anthropologist, known for creating “Dunham Technique.” Following their meeting, Ms. Dunham invited Dr. Diouf to share his artistry as part of her performing arts institute in East St. Louis. Three years after their initial meeting, he honored the invitation and began his journey of artistic excellence and cultural preservation on American soil.

Papa Zak, as he was known by legions of students, continued to distinguish himself with excellence over the span of his 55-year journey in the United States. An accomplished scholar, he earned a Masters degree in Public Administration at Roosevelt University and a Doctorate in Ethnomusicology at UC Berkeley. A gifted composer and recording artist, he collaborated with the likes of Quincy Jones, Bill Withers, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and The HeadHunters, Mor Thiam, Noel Pointer, Bill Summers, Dianne Reeves and many more. He also made notable contributions to the Emmy Award-winning musical score of “Alex Haley’s Roots (Part I).”

Papa Zak spent his lifetime cultivating greatness. He not only nurtured greatness in his own life, but also in the lives of others. This is best seen in his work as founder and Artistic Director of Diamano Coura West African Dance Company, where alongside his wife and Co-Director Mama Naomi Johnson-Diouf, he shared the healing power of African culture and trained several generations of youth and adults in West African music and dance traditions. Dr. Zakarya Diouf received many honors over the years for his work as a visionary artist and culture bearer, including, but not limited to the San Francisco Foundation’s Community Leadership Award (2005), The San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival’s Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award (2013); and the nation’s highest award, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Heritage Fellowship (2020). Dr. Diouf will be eternally missed, but forever celebrated for his pioneering works in the arts and for the many lives that were healed, inspired and transformed through the rich cultural inheritance he shared.

Dr. Zakarya Sao Diouf is survived by his beloved wife, Mama Naomi Johnson-Diouf, his children, Ousmane, Adjie, Esailama, Sakeenah, Madiou, Ibrahima and Kine; nine grandchildren and a host of other relatives in the US and Senegal.  Papa Zak will be loved and remembered by his family, members of Diamano Coura West African Dance Company, the Oakland/Bay Area arts community and hundreds of thousands of students worldwide.

A memorial celebration for Dr. Zakarya Diouf is planned for early December 2021.

For updates or to contribute to a memorial fund in honor of Dr. “Papa” Zakarya Diouf, please visit: https://diamano-coura-west-african-dance-company.square.site

West African Music Festival

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Listen to Muisi-kongo Malonga on Wanda’s Picks Radio, Dec. 1, 2021, 8 AM PT (http://tobtr.com/12033662)

Film Festival

Again listen to Wanda’s Picks, Dec. 1, 9:30 AM PT we speak to Romany Adams, programmer for the 18th Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, Dec. 1-15, 2021. Wednesday, Dec. 1, join AHITH for an evening of trailers and conversations with directors. It is a free virtual event. Register in advance.

Theatre

Listen to Wanda’s Picks Radio Show, Nov. 25, 2021, to hear SF Mime Troupe cast and playwright, Velina Brown, Michael Gene Sullivan, Mike McShane talk about Red Carol which opened Friday, Nov. 26, 2021 online and on radio.

On the Fly:

This Bridge Called My Back @40th Anniversary Virtual Reading, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, 5-7:30 PM PT Register: https://www.lasmaestrascenter.ucsb.edu/bridge-40th-rsvp

This Bridge Called My Back was/is a groundbreaking anthology of writings by radical women of color.  It was published 40 years ago and brought the conversation on women’s rights from the coffee clatches of white suburban housewives and college bound colored cuties into the realm of revolutionary women of color and the many issues we faced in the streets of our communities. This event celebrates those 40 years of relevance.

Watch FB Live@Wanda’s Picks Interview with Dr. Lynne Marrow, conductor, Let Us Break Bread 2021

Don’t miss the annual concert celebrating African American musical traditions and the spirit of the season at the Oakland Symphony Concert, Let Us Break Bread, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. We miss Maestro Michael Morgan. Ase!

Theatre
Listen to an interview on Wanda’s Picks Radio with playwright, Lisa Ramirez

Stanley Nelson’s “ATTICA” (2021), 118 mins. Showtime
A Review/Interview by Wanda Sabir

Stanley Nelson, Emmy Award winning director, co-founder, Firelight Media, says his recent film ATTICA, is perhaps his most important film to date. With verdicts rolling in as we speak, acquittals reminiscent of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown murderers freed, one wonders how little has changed in 50 years.

The director and co-director share footage combed from correctional footage of the brutal carnage that day when talks ceased and bloodshed began. The parallels between correctional facilities personnel’s treatment of those held behind bars then and now despite human rights laws passed, commissions assembled and substantive change not just at Attica State Prison but throughout the US post-Attica.

1971 was the year George Jackson was killed at San Quentin just a month earlier, the Vietnam War protests continued along with other protest movements. Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, makes a brief cameo at the prison. He stops by for all of 10 minutes. The men are clearly disappointed. However, their “Manifesto” is strengthened by the example of such leaders we meet on the screen who take an important stand for justice: Herbert X. Blyden, Frank Lott, Peter Butler, Donald “Don” Noble, Carl Jones-El, Frank “Big Black” Smith, Richard X. Clark, Cleveland McKinley “Jomo” Davis, Elliott James “L.D.” Barkley.

Nonetheless, since Covid-19, the systemic disregard for human life continues during the pandemic– innocents held captive to an infectious disease they were bound to contract given the way safety from infection was handled. The disease was brought in and once in took over.

Similar attitudes clouded the minds of officials at Attica who though forced to bargain with men whom they did not respect, the idea of honor, ethical behavior and human decency were not considerations the day talks were stopped and the air and ground attack began.

Nelson says he read Heather Ann Thompson’s Pulitzer prize-winning, “Blood In the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy” (2016). Also consultant on the film, one sees Thompson’s influence on the shape of Nelson’s “Attica,” the way the story unfolds and the directors compelling interviews with men who lived to finally have their say 50 years later. Perhaps the “revolution will be televised” after all.

The director and I had a conversation on Wanda’s Picks@ Facebook, when the film opened online via HBO and in select theaters early November on Showtime.

ATTICA moves between the archived documents — conversations between then President Nixon and NY Gov. Rockefeller– presidential hopeful, who was discouraged from meeting with the men, shows how the outcome was instigated and intentional.

“Are they black (men)?” Nixon kept asking, as if the race of the men behind bars, meant erasure would go uncensored. It wasn’t Gothic, rather antebellum curtains waving as family members of the guards held hostage grew more and more angry outside the facility.

Later when the smoke cleared, the imprisoned men were accused of killing their hostages who were all shot to death. Though disproved by the coroner, the myth prevails and the majority of white townsfolks still blame the victims in 2021, 50 years later, rather than their government officials who approved the unwarranted massacre. It is good that the directors were able to get the widow of one of the guards to share her family’s story.

It looked like a lynching mob outside Attica especially when the correctional guards went in armed to the teeth, helicopters flew overhead and the shooting began. Hearing the testimony of men, the few who survived and are still alive today was horrifying to witness.

The Attica experiment, as all social justice experiments between the 99 percent and the state, ended tragically; however, before the massacre, we see in the film comradery on the yard between men who found a point of agreement and so cooperated with one another. There was  order and the scenes where the men share stories about how it felt to be treated like a human being whose life mattered for the first time during the strike is a powerful statement this film makes.

Those men did not leave the human race when they were locked behind bars.  

The strikers’ demands were seen as reasonable by the citizen review committee who were there to help with negotiations. One of these persons, Clarence Jones, Amsterdam News publisher is familiar to those of us who like here in the SF Bay Area. Dr. Jones was also Dr. Kings attorney, the celebrated author also he taught a popular class at USF. He is about to be 90.

When Black journalist, John Johnson, ABC, walks out of Attica that last evening, the assault underway, he has to repeat more than once who he is so he is not shot or ripped apart by the unruly Attica supporters.

Witnessing is so important when the truth runs counter to a dominate narrative to a question posed by Mumia Abu Jamal, “Have Black Lives Ever Mattered” (2017).

The film release following the tribunal: We Cry Genocide– another anniversary, is a reminder Nelson says that ? million Americans are behind bars, most of them BIPOC and increasingly women: mothers, sisters, aunts, great-grandmas.

The film moves like the drama it is. . .and even though on its 50th anniversary year one would think the story all too familiar, Nelson says most of those people working on the film did not know the story prior this project.  Ase for all the lives lost.  The Attica Rebellion is long overdue a salute and reflection as is ? book to their memory. Perhaps the film will encourage the public to read the book and discussions on the demands the men requested which have been rescinded throughout the state and federal corrections facilities.

Why are so many Americans locked behind bars? This is a stain against this democracy. Something is wrong.

People live when we call their names and tell their stories.

The director and I have a conversation via Facebook Live@wandaspicks when he was in town for opening night at SF Docs in November 5.

Wanda Sabir: It’s so good to see you again. I think the last time we spoke about the Black Panther film or Freedom Summer, I’m not sure, but it’s always great to see you.

“I was just thinking about the first time I met you was when Ave Montague was still with us and it was about Soldiers without Swords, The Black Press.

The film seems to brings everything together: The Black Panther Party, your documentation of the power black press and [civil rights]. Even Jonestown kind of shows up in the way that all of these people [at Attica] were massacred.

You are really good storyteller. Oh man, come powerful story about something that a lot of people don’t know about, so I was wondering.  Now I know it’s the 50th anniversary, but you know you, you just seem to like in your trajectory as a director.

You’re always tell the story that we need to here in the moment that we need to hear.

Stanley Nelson: Well, thank you so much. I think this was a film that that I’ve thought about for a long time. You know, I mean a long time like 20 or 30 years. And I think that it reached a point. You know, in in my development as a filmmaker that I thought that I could tell the story

in the way that it needed telling.

Also I thought that that a couple of years ago. You know, I realized that so many of the people that were involved in Attica, the prisoners, the Observer Committee so many others were getting you know up there in age and it might not be a film that I could tell in the same way you know 10 or 20 years from now and that I really needed to tell the story now.

I think in a way, though you know it’s a story that’s evergreen, you know in it. With that I mean that you know the story would have been important ten years ago.

It’s really important now. It will probably unfortunately be just as important ten years.

Sabir: I just love meeting the men. It is amazing how this country is really about documentation even the incriminating bad stuff. I mean, you know, like you got Nixon talking the Rockefeller.

Maybe we should tell the audience what the story is. Maybe some people don’t know. Why don’t you give like the quick synopsis and then we can talk a little bit so people know we’re talking about.

Stanley Nelson: Yeah, I mean I, I think that that that you’re really right. I mean so many people don’t know anything about Attica. You know we had an informal poll with the people that work at fire lights. You know our company and probably 25-30 percent of the people had never heard of Attica. They had no idea when you say Attica what it was.

Uhm, Attica is a was and is a prison 250 miles from New York City in the country way up in New York State. And it’s a maximum security penitentiary in 1971.

Over 1000 inmates took over the prison in a spontaneous action protesting the mistreatment that they were subjected to. They held the prison for five days. They had over 30 hostages—guards and civilian workers. [They had the guards change into inmate clothing.]

And during that time, there was a negotiation to try to settle the takeover. One of the things that’s most important about the Attica uprising is that from the very first day, the prisoners invited the press to come in. They wanted the press to come in and film everything. They thought that by the press coming in that they would be protected.

If they were on camera and the home negotiations were transparent that they would be protected. For me as a filmmaker, [this] is just a gold mine, because there’s an incredible footage. [The footage is incredible, much never seen before this remarkable film.]

You know, the day-to-day life at Attica during the rebellion from the prisoners digging latrines because the water was cut off to a building, [setting up] tents, to passing out food, to negotiations.

We hear the sound of, you know the prisoners’ demands and what the prisoners want.

Sabir: It’s a really graphic tale not because you want to sensationalize anything, but because there was bloodshed and they’re the parallels between, you know our African ancestors. Those of us who are here because of enslavement and what’s happening in the prisons.

Oh my goodness, it’s sort of like stepping back in history that’s not past.  I just wanted to take a moment of silence just to honor those men killed when the negotiation process was called off who thought for a moment that this democracy would work for them.

They were so hopeful and then so grossly disappointed, but like some of the men interviewed said, ‘We walked on the glass and crawled through feces because we had to be witnesses. If we all died, then no one would know.

I just wanted to say, Ase for their memory their belief, and their lives, which do matter.

Please talk about you and your Co-director and how you lined up all these people ’cause you had a multiple advantage points. It was like about witnessing from outside the prison witnessing inside the prison, witnessing as journalists, but also people.

When Mr. Johnson went into the prison, he said, folks were calling out to him that he that knew him from his neighborhood.

Nelson: Yeah, I mean we knew from the very beginning that it was a story that that had so many different elements and that was one of the things that made it really attractive you know that there were there were the prisoners in the yard who had taken over the prison. They invited the news media in, and so we were able to find John Johnson who was a big time a reporter in in in New York City who went in and was there for the five days of the takeover and another guy named Stuart Dan who was a reporter from Buffalo, NY.

We knew that we [also] wanted to try to get the hostage families to talk about how they were feeling while they’re there, [while] their husbands and fathers were being held hostage.

And we knew that that Attica, the Town was a character in the in the film and we wanted to also hear from them about Attica, the town, which is, an all-white town, 250 miles upstate from NYC, where the main industry is the prison and dairy farming, and we really wanted to hear from them about that and the observers who’d come in by request of the former prisoners.

The prisoners at that point invite what they call the Observers Committee, to help negotiate. Those were people that they thought would be sympathetic, so you know, Clarence Jones, who was publisher over the Amsterdam news.

John Dunn, who was a senator and was very concerned about prisoners. We also wanted to hear from them and then we heard from two National Guardsmen who were sent into the prison with the takeover to be medical help. We wanted to get a 360 degree view of what was happening not only in the yard, but outside the yard, not only outside the yard, but in the town and only in the town, but in New York State, with a governor Rockefeller, not only in New York State, but across the country with [President] Richard Nixon, who was really behind the scenes pulling the strings of so much of this. You know, pulling the strings that they were attached in Nelson.Rockefeller who was governor of New York, but we really wanted to be president of the United States and felt that that he had to be a tough on crime.  He had to be in favor of law and order which was Nixon’s [campaign ticket] when he was re-elected.

Sabir: Right, yeah, yeah, there are so many echoes you know that say, yeah, this is now when we’re watching the film. That’s historic, but it’s also present because some of the issues that are raised don’t just affect people who are incarcerated. They affect other people like other black people and we think about you know the whole different movements like Black Lives Movement.  We think about what happened, you know during 2020, the 2021 coup and between Nixon and Trump.

I just love the juxtaposition of the voices like you have: George Jackson. You have Malcolm X, you know, and Dr. Clarence Jones who was Dr. King’s attorney. He smuggled out the ‘Letter from the Birmingham ail. That’s a jail, and King is writing to the white citizens council.

At Attica, the mob outside is using the N-word. They’re shouting, ‘kill ‘em all.’ It’s tense.

We see that, outside the Observers, no one seems to see the humanity of these men who want simple things like toilet tissue and soap and healthcare and decent food.

Nelson: I think that one of the things that we have to be clear about is the demands that the prisoners maker are small. Most of their demands are, as you say, were [minimal] to be given more than one roll of toilet paper a month.

They were fed on $0.21 a meal, $0.63 a day. You know, they just wanted to be fed decent food. You know, to have things you said, soap, [visits, phone calls.]

A demand was to be treated, you know, like human beings, as they say over and over again: ‘We just want it to be treated like human beings.’ And one of the things that’s clear, in the film, is that the state had agreed to 28 demands of 30.

So you know they were very close to ending this thing, but it really hinged on the idea of amnesty. The prisoners insisted that they get amnesty. They wanted amnesty, not for the crimes that they committed outside prison to get them in prison. They wanted amnesty for anything that happened during the riot, because they felt and were scared that they could be brought up for charges, rightly or wrongly, as a whole, like [the state was] gonna just prosecute everybody.

Because we don’t know who did what so we’re gonna prosecute everybody you know for kidnapping, for destruction of government property you know et cetera. There were a number of charges that they could have been brought up.

Amnesty was the one point the whole thing that happened at Attica really hinged.

Sabir: Over and over we hear in the aftermath, the carnage and death, how it didn’t have to happen like that. The weather is also a character in the work.

I mean, you know you’re an artist so you know the work is beautiful. We see all these lovely nuances and like the metaphors are really clear. You didn’t plan it– the rain and the cold weather.  I mean it happened, but as an artist and a storyteller you know how to make these connections, and I wonder if you could talk about how this story and this film impacted you.

There’s a lot of silence around this story, and there’s a lot of secrecy around this story, and maybe there’s some shame I don’t know.

When you tell these kind of stories how are you impacted? How does it land with you? What’s still with you after this story? 

You’re like, an, August Wilson. I don’t know how many cycles you’re gonna be doing, but.

You know you’re telling you’re telling our story in cinema, which is our nation’s story, and so you know, we just want to sort of like what is still there in you from this journey?

Nelson:  Well first I have to say that that I’m very humbled, you know, to have my name mentioned in the same sentence as August Wilson.  I’m just humbled by even the thought of that, you know? I think that it’s a real honor to tell the story of Attica; that’s how I look at it.

I’m trying to just do my best to tell this story in all its nuances, to move an audience, because that’s what film does best. Film uses so many of your senses in a way that most other [mediums] things can’t.  You know you’re seeing it. You’re hearing it, you’re feeling it.

We’re really trying to use all those things and to make you feel you know not only see it but feel it as a story, so that’s what we’re trying to do.  You know, I think take away a memory of the prisoners. The former prisoners and the fact that there’s still people in prison today.

You know one of the greatest lines in the film is on that first night when they take over the prison and they’re outside in the yard sleeping outside. And this guy says that, it’s the first time he’s seen the night sky in 22 years.

You know, and that’s just wrenching, and the fact that there’s over 2,000,000 people in prison today in this country, disproportionately black and brown who are not going to see the night sky and that is something that I take away from you too.


Sabir: Talk about the various witnesses that you invite from the prison, these men that survived this, and I presume that they’re free now and then, and then also you know you we already talked about the families of the hostages and what happened there and then reflecting on that particular time.

Is there any remorse in the town for what happened 50 years ago? Did Attica change the way the black and white people interact? I don’t think any black people live there at that time. I don’t know if any black people live there now.

Nelson: No, I mean, for the most part, I don’t think people that have changed. It probably even hardened some people attitudes and people in Attica town, many of them still believe that the prisoners killed the guards. 10 guards were killed. They were all shot by law enforcement as law enforcement tried to take back the prison. Some people in Attica still believe that the inmates slit their throats, which was reported on the news the first day.

And then it was retracted because no throats were slit at all in the words of the other medical examiner, come so it’s kind of hard on them [to believe their heroes killed the Cos]. I don’t think it’s gotten any better. One of the former prisoners that is interviewed in the film, went up there because there was a 50th commemoration of Attica in September of this year. He went up there with his wife and family and when he got there, he realized that that he was the only from that side and all the other 200 people were townspeople.

He said they looked at him with such hate that he just got back in his car and said, to his family, ‘Come on, let’s leave.’  So I don’t think there’s been too much of a change in the feelings of the town.  I wish I could say there was, but I don’t think that in general, there is much change.

Sabir:  The film ends with legal updates regarding wrongful death lawsuits. I’d hoped the families of the men killed were compensated and that the guards who killed them were prosecuted.  It was outright murder. When the helicopters sprayed the gas on the men on the yard, they couldn’t see and there were no weapons—they were not a threat.

Nelson:  When they went to take back the prison, on the 5th day, there was no inciting incident.

There was nothing that happened that made them have to stop negotiating and go in, so they it was just a a political decision that ‘we’re going to show the power of the state.’

First they shot gas into the prism from helicopters which incapacitated everybody, but also it caused a huge a dense smoke cloud. Then they went in with rifles blazing and just shot into the cloud they couldn’t see. They couldn’t see who they were shooting or what they were shooting so it was really just, you know, an incredible massacre and you know it’s been called the most deadly day of combat [or slaughter] on United States soil since the Civil War, so it was.

It was horrific and nobody was prosecuted for the deaths that happened at Attica, 41 people died.

Sabir: What’s your hope for the work which opens on screen Nov. 6 on Showtime across the country?

Nelson: My hope is that people as possible watch the film. We’ve gotten incredible reviews of the film. Incredible reaction to the film for at the film festivals.  I think it’s one of, if not the best film I’ve ever made. Definitely one of the best films I’ve ever made.

It’s a very very gut wrenching, emotional film.  I’m hoping that that for the moment when people see this film it’s a film that sticks with you and you take something away from, I hope that people think about the 2 million people that are that are incarcerated in this country and the too many people that are not gonna see the night sky tonight. . . and think about.

What a waste of humanity. What a waste of intelligence. What a waste of man and woman power, people power that we have [squandered] by just putting people in prison.

Sabir: What keeps you going? Are any ancestors standing there with you kind of like whispering in your ear when you’re sleeping. Like OK Stanley, this is would be a great story for you to tell

Nelson: You know, I think that that you know.  I’ve been really fortunate, really honored to be able to tell and work on the films and work on the stories that I’ve been able to work on; it’s just a real honor, you know.  I haven’t had to compromise a lot of what I do. I mean it keeps me going because I’m able to tell these stories that might not reach the general public if I didn’t tell them so well that that keeps me going.

Sabir: We’re really happy to know you’re there doing this hard work, you and this time your co-director Traci Curry at Firelight Films Production.

Panel Discussion on Mumia Abu Jamal
Marches Dec. 11 in various cities across the country

Human rights and community activists from throughout the world are organizing online and in-person events to mark the anniversary of the December 9, 1981 unjust arrest of Mumia Abu-Jamal, award-winning Philadelphia journalist, radio personality and former Black Panther. 

Abu-Jamal was arrested, convicted and unjustly imprisoned as the result of judicial, police and prosecutorial misconduct for allegedly killing a Philadelphia policeman — a crime he didn’t commit. Supporters worldwide assert that Abu-Jamal was framed, is innocent and continue to fight for his release, even after four decades. 

On Thursday, December 9, from 7:00PM – 9:30PM, an online “Free Mumia Now!” forum (https://t.co/1eqT4x2F80) will feature Temple University Professor Linn Washington, Jr., former political prisoner Jalil Muntaqim, Warrior Woman Mama Pam Africa, retired International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 10 Secretary Treasurer Clarence Thomas, longtime international supporters Julia Wright and Jacky Hortaut from France, Michael Shiffman from Germany and poet/author Ewuare Osayande. Special panels will feature international and youth activists for Mumia. 

At 1:00PM, Saturday, Dec. 11 community activists will gather at the Octavius V. Catto Statue on the south side of Philadelphia City Hall for a “March for Mumia” through Center City featuring speakers. 

Similar events are being held in Houston, TX, France, Mexico, Vienna, Austria and Germany. 

Many of the judicial, police and prosecutorial misconducts that resulted in Abu-Jamal’s conviction were the same illegal practices that led the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to exonerate 23 innocent men. 

Abu-Jamal’s health has deteriorated significantly over the years. He recently underwent open heart surgery, has had cataract surgery, and suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and a severe skin ailment. Independent doctors maintain he must be given a healthy, fresh diet and a regular exercise regimen which would support his cardiac rehabilitation and speed his recovery. Now 67, Abu-Jamal is one of 6,000 aged and ill incarcerated people who have spent decades in prison, who pose no risk to society and should be released. Prison officials have refused to do this. 

AfroFuturistik@ The Roxie Cinema in San Francisco
Short Films from Emerging African Filmmakers

Link to Facebook Live interview with Sudu Connexion curator, Claire DIAO

The Village Project presents: Kwanzaa 2021

Due to the COVID pandemic, this year’s Kwanzaa Celebration will stream virtually from Dec. 26th to Jan. 1st at 7 PM. The Village Project will have one in person celebration at City Hall on Dec. 27th at 12 Noon (Kugichagulia). The Village Project and its community partners will celebrate its 16th annual Kwanzaa celebration with seven days of community events presented through social media, i.e., Facebook Live and YouTube. More than ever, TVP is striving to unite and heal our families, communities and nation. Never before has there been such a need to reflect on the Nguzo Saba, in order to bring our community together and survive this pandemic, which is plaguing the world – devastating families and communities. TVP will again celebrate daily, each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa (the Nguzo Saba) and pour libations for all of the lost loved ones, along with honoring our ancestors. Each of its hosting partners will present exciting and enriching cultural programs virtually, intended to both to entertain and engage the entire family. TVP’s spiritual ceremony – pouring of libations and honoring of ancestors- will start each program and will be followed by cultural performances and the lighting of one of the seven candles of the Kinara. Each program will end with a concert performance, featuring some of the Bay area’s rhythm & blues greats! We will supply curbside meal pickups to accommodate the tradition of our daily feast (the karamu). Each program will be video-taped at several of our traditional venues and will stream on Facebook Live and YouTube from December 26th to January 1st at 7 pm daily.

THE NGUZO SABA SCHEDULE

UMOJA (unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race: Sunday, December 26th; Performances by Harpist From the Hood & Fillmore Slim;  Co-sponsors – SF Public Library, Bethel AME Church & Third Baptist Church.  KUJICHAGULIA (self-determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves: Monday, December 27th; Performancesssss by Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic and Briana Dance Company; Co-sponsors -Mayor London Breed’s Office, Human Rights Commission, OEWD & Booker T. Washington Community Center UJIMA (collective work and responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and solve them together: Tuesday, December 28th: Performance by Soul Mechanix; Co-sponsors- YMCA Urban Services Family Resource Centers, Minnie & Lovie Rec Center & Hamilton Rec Center  UJAMAA (cooperative economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together: Wednesday, December 29th: Performance by Alabama Mike; Co-sponsors Rafiki Coalition for Health & Wellness & The Bayview YMCA  NIA (purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness: Thursday, December 30th: Performance by Pat Wilder; Co-sponsors: The Success Centers – SF, The Fillmore Merchants & Neighborhood Collaborative & New Leadership Community Foundation  KUUMBA (creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it: Friday, December 31st: Performance by Yolanda Rhodes’ Co-sponsors African American Arts & Culture Complex, MoMagic & Western Addition/George E. Davis Senior Centers  IMANI (faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle: Saturday, January 1st: Performance by Tia Carroll; Co-sponsors: St. Cyprians Episcopal Church, Museum of the African Diaspora & Fellowship Manor Senior Housing ABOUT KWANZAA Created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966, Kwanzaa is celebrated annually by more than 30 million people worldwide, over seven days from December 26th to January 1st. The values of Kwanzaa, the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles), are critical tools for addressing the issues facing the African American community. Ceremonies will be led by Brotha’ Clint Sockwell and Malik Seneferu. There will be a lighting of one of the candles of the kinara & a pouring of libation ceremony, live entertainment & a feast (karamu) at each event. For our updated program information visit:  www.thevillageprojectsf.orgwww.youtubr.com/user/fillmorevillageproject ABOUT THE VILLAGE PROJECT  Adrian Williams is the founder of The Village Project, a youth service organization focusing on education and cultural enrichment for youth and their families in the Western Addition. She has revived the celebration of Kwanzaa throughout San Francisco, by connecting traditionally African American communities.  RSVP

Kwanzaa con’t.

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Dec 27th @ 7 PM EST Here’s the YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf1vXR4rYuI

Sister Circle Collective Kwanzaa

UJIMA Collective Kwanzaa, Dec. 28

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Celebrate Kwanzaa, 2021 with Ujima Friends Peace Center in partnership with Ujima Friends Meeting &

Fellowship of Friends of African Descent, Tuesday, December 28, 2021, 7:00 pm
https://zoom.us/j/400187183?pwd=SXljd1lBMEN3VTQrM0R0VE5zdWlTZz09

Feel free to invite family and friends who would like to celebrate Kwanzaa

Afrikan Healing Wisdom Kwanzaa 2021@InsightLA, Dec. 26, 9-11 AM PT
Register Here: https://insightla.org/event/afrikan/2021-12-26-09-00/

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with Vimalasara Mason-John, MA, Arisika Razak, CNM, MPH, & Aleta Toure’

This is for people with one or more parents or grandparents from the Black African Diaspora and who self-identifies as Black and/or mixed heritage. This group is to welcome healing around our internalized racial oppression within our communities and to nurture the wisdom and gifts we have to share among us. Be comfortable in your skin. Bring your Medicine, your voice, your dance, your sage.

We welcome all genders, sexualities, and abilities.

Assistants: Shawna, Moka, and Kirsten

Taking it to the Water: Stories of the Water Spirits, Their Art and Rituals
Closing program for 2021

Virtual UJIMA@ Alive and Free, Dec. 28
Click the link to register.

Ujamaa@Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland, CA

At the intersection of Art and Agriculture, together let us explore the roots of Kwanzaa that came from soul of Oakland, all my relations…
Wed, December 29, 2021, 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM PST

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At the intersection of Art and Agriculture, together let us explore the roots of Kwanzaa that came from soul of Oakland, all my relations…

Wed, December 29, 2021, 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM PST

A Revolutionary KWANZAA from the Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz Center, NYC, 11-1 PM PT on UMOJA (Dec. 26)

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