Wanda’s Picks June 2017
Happy Father’s Day! Ramadan Mubarak to those fasting during this blessed month.Congratulations to all the graduates and their happy families, special congratulations to my eldest niece: Widya Batin, Lowell High School, San Francisco, Youth Leader Award, National Council of Negro Women Golden Gate Section 2016, Member, Design Task Force “New Buchanan Mall” between Fulton and Eddy.
The Black Father Project.com
Join Dr. Khalid Akil White, dir. “Black Fatherhood: Trials & Tribulations, Testimony & Triumph” at Oakstop, 1721 Broadway in Oakland, Thursday, June 8, 6-9 p.m. (for men and boys) and at Bayview Opera House: Ruth Williams Theatre, (everyone welcome) 4705 3rd Street in San Francisco, Sunday, June 25, 3 p.m. for a film screening and conversation about Black Fathers. Ticket price includes a meal.
Libations for the Ancestors
12th Annual International Libations for African Ancestors of the Middle Passage, Sat., June 10, 8:30 a.m. We begin at 9 a.m. sharp, at Lake Merritt in Oakland (Lakeside at E-18th) by the fountain. Bring instruments, children, something to share such as poetry, song, and reflections. Omnira Institute’s 10th Annual Juneteenth: Ritual of Remembrance Celebrating the Roots of Freedom is also that day, at 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. by the Lake Merritt Boathouse Picnic Area, 562 Bellevue Ave. Visit maafasfbayarea.com and remembertheancestors.com
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Exhibitions
Art Makes My Life Matter at the African American Center, San Francisco Main Library 6/17-8/10
Curator Kheven LaGrone wondered what the Black Lives Matter movement means in the San Francisco Bay Area, and asked several local black artists to depict how they use their art to make their lives matter. Artist talk and discussion 1:30 PM June, 17th, 2017 in the African American Center, 3rd Level, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco.
Dance
Soul to Soul with Between Me and the World, ODC’s The Walking Dance Festival, June 3 & 10
Curated by Laura Elaine Ellis, artistic Director of the African American Performing Arts Coalition is performed in thematic collaboration with and on the same ODC program with Joanna Haigood’s remounting of excerpts from her 2013 performance installation Between Me and the Other World, which explores the relevance of W.E.B. Dubois’s concept of “double consciousness” to the experience of people of color in the United States today. Ellis’s work which follows Haigood’s continues the discussion with two seminal texts in conversation: Ellis’s work titled Soul to Soul: An Artistic Response to Baldwin and Coates, draws on the writings of James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates to illuminate contemporary issues related to race and social justice. Both choreographers’ work sits in the collaborative process, Haigood’s project includes composer Anthony Brown, video artist David Szlasa and scenic designer Sean Riley, while Ellis collaborates with Gregory Dawson and Marc Bamuthi Joseph and includes musicians and poets, dancers and other creative stakeholders. This free event will have two showings each day on June 3 and June 10 beginning at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Joe Goode Annex, 499 Alabama Street in San Francisco as part of ODC’s annual summer festival, the Walking Distance Dance Festival. Visit odc.dance/wddf or call 415-863-9834. Listen to an interview with Laura Elaine Ellis:
Oakland Ballet
Oakland Ballet presents two: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Thursday–Saturday, June 1–3, at 7:30pm, and Saturday June 3 at 2:30pm and East Bay DANCES ’17, Sunday, June 4, 4 p.m. Both programs are at the Odell Johnson Performing Arts Center at Laney College, 900 Fallon Street, Oakland.
Now in its 53rd Season, Oakland Ballet offers two matinee performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to K-12 schoolchildren from Oakland Unified School District on Friday, June 2 at the Odell Johnson Performing Arts Center at Laney College. Tickets are free for Title I schools and $5 for students and teachers from non-Title I schools. Tickets may be arranged at www.OaklandBallet.org or by calling 510-893-3132. Listen to an interview with Graham Lustig, Artistic Director: http://tobtr.com/s/100040455
San Francisco Silent Film Festival
San Francisco Silent Film Festival presents: Body and Soul dir.by Oscar Micheaux (USA, 1925, 93 min.) starring Paul Robeson in his film debut. With a new score by Paul D. Miller, DJ Spooky, whose recent project “Pioneers of African American Cinema” covers work from 1915-1946. Race films features Micheaux who was quintessentially a race man, his canon unparalleled and unflinchingly focused on stories about the black experience in America. Of the filmmakers 22 silent feature films, only three survive, scholar Charles Musser writes in the film notes which accompany the five CD box set.
The prolific director’s “Body & Soul” is both controversial and provocative. With a majority black cast, the question to Micheaux was why he’d make a film with black villains—a preacher who rapes, lies and steals. Musser’s explains that Micheaux often used cinema as conversation and in “Body and Soul” his Reverend Isiaah T. Jenkins “is a southern version of [Eugene O’Neill’s] Brutus Jones—an escaped convict and dangerous sociopath who uses his authority as a preacher to extract money and sex from parishioners” (19). Other films Micheaux samples are another O’Neill work, also starring Paul Robeson, “All God’s Chillin Got Wings” (1924) and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Pilgrim” (1923).
Almost a psychological thriller, we see Robeson playing two roles, that of Rev. Jenkins and his twin brother Sylvester whom Isabelle loves, to her mother’s chagrin. The antagonist externalizes the split self W.E.B. Dubois articulates so carefully in “The Souls of Black Folk.” The preacher is sly, cunning and a master at deception while his quiet alter ego is his complete opposite. The mother is victim to her pastor’s charm, even when she knows better. We see her polishing his shoes and giving him her hard-earned money. The score propels the movement as it supports the narrative structure.
Almost a caricature, the wily preacher is a character Michaeux returns to, without Robeson who at 27 so excels in this questionable role, he later distances himself from it. The film is surprisingly current and its reception recalls the film version of “The Color Purple.” The film with live accompaniment by DJ Spooky screen Friday, June 2, 7 p.m. at Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Visit silentflm.org
Juneteenth in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Richmond . . . California
Join the Friends of the Negro Spirituals Juneteenth at the West Oakland Branch Library, 1801 Adeline Street, June 17, 1-4 p.m. in the West Auditorium.
Juneteenth San Francisco is also, Sat., June 17-18: http://www.sfjuneteenth.com/
Juneteenth Richmond, June 17: http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/427/Festivals
Juneteenth Allensworth, June 10: http://friendsofallensworthsandiego.com/calendar.htm
Juneteenth San Jose: https://www.everfest.com/e/juneteenth-in-the-park-san-jose-ca
Juneteenth Santa Cruz: https://www.everfest.com/e/santa-cruz-juneteenth-santa-cruz-ca
Berkeley Juneteenth, Sunday, June 18: http://www.berkeleyjuneteenth.org/
Vallejo 29th Annual Juneteenth, June 17: http://www.vallejojuneteenth.com/
Everfest listing of Juneteenths US: https://www.everfest.com/seasonal/juneteenth-festivals
Ms. Susan Burton, founder, A New Way of Life, Book Party
The long anticipated story of Ms. Susan Burton’s life is finally out (May 2017) and she will be in Oakland to celebrate its release Monday, June 5 at the Laurel Bookstore, 1423 Broadway, Oakland from 6-8 p.m. One of the founders of All of Us or None, Susan Burton is a CNN Hero, a Starbucks “Upstander,” a Soros Justice Fellow, a winner of Harvard’s Citizen Activist Award, founder of the internationally-recognized non-profit A New Way of Life, and someone that Michelle Alexander has compared to Harriet Tubman. She is also one of the millions of American women who have been incarcerated—in her case over 15 years—for non-violent offenses.”
In “Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight got Incarcerated Women” (The New Press) Burton and writer Cari Lynn tell the story of Susan Burton’s life, and use it as a lens through which to see the desperate need for criminal justice reform.
Born in the housing projects of 1950s Los Angeles, Burton’s world changed in an instant when her five-year-old son was killed. Consumed by grief and without access to professional help, Burton self-medicated, becoming addicted first to cocaine, then crack. As a resident of South L.A., an impoverished black community under siege by the War on Drugs, it was but a matter of time before she was arrested. Burton cycled in and out of prison; never was she offered therapy or addiction treatment. On her own, she eventually found a private drug rehabilitation facility.
Once clean—and against all odds—Burton was able to buy a small house, and ever since has dedicated her life to supporting women facing similar struggles.
Part memoir, part political awakening, and part criminal justice reform manifesto—which Bryan Stevenson has called “a must-read”—Susan Burton’s story brings vividly to life the human cost of mass incarceration.
On the Fly:
13th Annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival 2017, Friday, June 9-11 at Brava Theatre, 2781 24th Street, San Francisco. Visit qwocmap.org 20th Annual United States of Asian American Festival – apiculturalcenter.org Berkeley World Music Festival 6/9-6/11 (various locations); Bay Area Book Festival, June 2-3 in Berkeley (Listen to an interview with Cherylin Parsons, Founder & Executive Dir.); San Francisco International Art Festival (Wanda’s Picks interview with Andrew Wood, director of SFIAF); Frameline41 June 15-25 (Genre Queer Cinema at its finest: 5 venues, including 1 week programming in the East Bay; 19 countries); 16th Annual SF Docufest May 31-June 15 at the Roxie/Vogue/Alamo Drafthouse. African Diaspora Interest: “Bangaologi, the Science of Style” (Coréon Dú, Angola/Portugal/USA 83 min. Roxie 6/10, 5 p.m. & Wed. 6/14, 7:15 p.m.); “Bight of the Twin” (Hazel Hill McCarthy III, USA, 63 min, Vogue Sat., June 10, 4:45 p.m.; Roxie Mon., June 12, 9:30 p.m.); “City of Joy” (Madeline Gavin, USA, 74 min., Roxie, Sat.,une 3, 9:30 p.m.); “Double Digits: The Story of a Neighborhood Movie” (Justin Johnson, USA, 76 min.), Roxie, Tues., June 6, 9:30 p.m., & Sun., June 11, 2:45 p.m.; “Gip” (Patrick Sheehan, USA, 74 min.), Roxie, Sun., June 11, 5 p.m.; “Nat Bates for Mayor,” (Bradley Berman & Eric Weiss, USA, 75 mins.), Roxie, Sat., June 10, 2:45 p.m. and Thurs., June 15, 9:30 p.m.; “Shelter,” (Brent Renaud & Craig Renaud, USA, 76 mins.), Roxie, Sat., June 3, 2:45 p.m. & Thurs., June 8, 7:15 p.m.; “Street Fighting Men,” (Andrew Jame, USA, 110 mins.), Roxie, Sun., June 4, 5 p.m. & Tues., June 6, 7:15 p.m.; “True Conviction,” (Jamie Meltzer, USA, 84 mins.), Roxie, Sat., June 3, 7:15 p.m.; “Uhuru”, (Tom Gentle, UK/ Tanzania, 60 mins), Vogue, Sun., June 11, 4:45 p.m., Roxie, Wed., June 14, 9:30 p.m.; “Unseen,” (Laura Paglin, USA, 78 mins), Roxie, Thurs., June 8, 9:30 p.m. & Sun., June 11, 7:15 p.m.; “The Work (Centerpiece film), Jarius McLeary ( Gethin Aldous, USA, 87 mins, Roxie, Friday, June 9, 7:15 p.m.; “Resistance is Life,” (Apo W. Bazidi, USA, 73 min.), Roxie, Sun., June 11, 9:30 p.m. & Mon., June 12, 7:15 p.m. “Working in Protest,” (Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley, USA, 74 min.), Roxie, Sat., June 10, 9:30 p.m. 80th Annual Stern Grove Concerts, June 25-August 27, opens with Kool & the Gang and Quinn DeVeaux who blends New Orleans soul and early blues with contagious dance rhythms. Highlights this season of free music are Marvis Staples & Kev Choice (8/27), Amadou and Miriam (8/8), Negrito (7/2), War (8/13); African American Shakespeare Company’s “The Winter’s Tale” by William Shakespeare, directed by L. Peter Callendar is up June 10-18 (6 performances) at the Taube Atrium Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco. Teacher’s Night Out is Thursday, June 9, 7:30 p.m. Visit Shakes.org/Education/Teachers-Night-Out Opening is 3 p.m. June 10. Ubuntu TheatreProject presents: Confirmation and Machinal, June 1-11at Brooklyn Preserve, 1433 12th Avenue, Oakland; Samm-Art Williams’s HOME, dir. by Aldo Billingslea, at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre through June 4 at the Burial Clay Theater at the African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street (at Webster), in San Francisco. Friday-Sat. 7 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. matinee, Sunday, 4 p.m. For tickets call: (415) 474-8800 To listen to an interview with the director, visit Wanda’s Picks Radio: http://tobtr.com/s/10012965
Theatre
Theatre Rhinoceros presents: “Pricilla: Queen of the Desert, the Musical,” directed by John Fisher, at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., (at Battery St.), May 27-July 1. Listen to a recent Wanda’s Picks interview with AeJay Mitchell, choreographer and Charles Peoples III, (Felicia/Adam) at: http://tobtr.com/10044411
Dance Performance
Cherie Hill, Artistic Director, IrieDance, joins us to talk about her new work, Terrestrial Footprints Part 2, June 2 & 3 at Alena Museum, a West Oakland space for African Diaspora art, 2725 Magnolia Street, 8 p.m. Listen to an interview on Wanda’s Picks: http://tobtr.com/10040455
Theatre First’s production of HeLa
In Laura Gunderson and Geetha Reddy’s “HeLa,” the dead woman never leaves the stage. Actress Jeunee Simon’s “Henrietta Lacks,” opposite Desiree Roger’s “Deborah” weave magic on stage. Mrs. Lacks is engaging and prescient as scientists and business men profit from her immortal cells. She orbits the planet with a Russian dog, peaks through a microscope as a scientist laments his inability to meet the woman responsible for his research. The play which puts Henrietta Lacks and her daughter Deborah Lacks Pullum at its center, is a refreshing treatment of a topic which is very much in the news today, yet in this tale the only story that matters is the Lacks women.
Deborah asks astute questions of scientists who take her blood. She asks why people are always taking, taking, taking. When asked why they wanted the family’s blood, the clinician lies and says they are testing to make sure Henrietta children do not have cancer or the potential for contracting it. Much later the family learns that they were never at risk.
A large cell, porous and magnified provides the backdrop for the story of a woman who died at 31, yet her cells are alive today. Deborah sets out to find her mother, once she learns her mother, Henrietta Lacks, is alive somewhere. If her mother’s cells are so important to science, then why doesn’t anyone say her name she asks throughout her search. Why is her mom hidden in the cryptic term: “HeLa” Deborah asks over and over again, as scientist squirm, apologize and then think, perhaps for the first time, about the woman’s body these cells were a part of. An indigent black woman patient in the Colored Ward in John Hopkins Hospital, Henrietta Lacks was vulnerable and at risk. She knew these white people were not to be trusted. We see her suffer needlessly as doctors’ care only about research and samples, not the woman dying.
Marketing would have been difficult if the public, especially other doctors whose research also looked at gene propagation had known the woman whose cells were rapidly changing medical science forever, was black. In 1951, no one wanted to hear this, so they named the line HeLa and hid her identity for 25 years.
As Deborah unravels the remarkable and extraordinary story of her mom, Henrietta Lacks reaches across the spheres which separate flesh from the divine— it is her cells that create a bridge for her little girl to cross. HeLa, the play, makes immortality tangible.
Everything is left to the imagination except the cells sitting like a constellation all aglow. Bailey Hikawa’s scenic design and Stephanie Anne Johnson’s lighting, allow the tangible yet nuanced subtleties of science to serves as backdrop to everything— HeLa cells are a mystery, a wonderful mystery that envelops the audience too as we sit enraptured by the story and like Deborah learn to believe in the unseen.
TheatreFirst’s production of HeLa is up through Sat., June 17. The play runs Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. and Sunday, 2 p.m., at Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley. Call 510.981.8150 or visit theatrefirst.com
There is a conversation with special guests following each performance. Sat., June 10, Prof. Wanda Sabir will participate in the discussion with hopefully some of her student scholars. The Freshman Comp class read Rebecca Skloot’s book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” spring semester. To listen to an interview with Desiree and Jeunee listen here: http://tobtr.com/s/100040455