A Longish Short List
Today I'd like to give you a shortlist of books, films, and one event that I think are worth investigating. I haven’t read all of the books, or seen all of the movies: What they have in common is that they’ve caught my attention. I’m hoping I’ll be able to write about all of them in more detail. But for now, without further ado:
On Sunday, January 20 from 3 to 5 pm WNYC Radio and Civic Frame are cohosting a public conversation at the Brooklyn Museum called “Embracing the Radical King: Prophetic or Passé?” In the press release it is described as
Topics will range from war in the age of terrorism, immigration, the role of religion in the political sphere, and health care, to the cultural currency of entertainers and athletes, to subjects Dr. King felt passionately about but that often go ignored in the national conversation, including poverty, the prison industrial complex, and the black church.
Danny Simmons, producer of Def Jam Poetry and poet Sonia Sanchez will participate.
If you can’t make the live event, excerpts from the event will air Monday January 21 on The Brian Lehrer Show, from 10am to noon on 93.9 FM, AM 820, and through live webstream at wnyc.org. A full webcast and podcast will be available at www.wnyc.org.
For more information, go here.
My friend Ned Sublette, who wrote the beautifully researched book Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo has come out with a second book The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square. When I finish the second book, I’ll be doing a mini interview with Ned here at Gotham City Soul. I’m just alerting you to both as well as Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington. Harriet writes for a healthcare supplement our magazine produces and has worked exhaustively to bring us this compelling book described as
Harriet’s book is nominated for a National Books Critic Circle award. Congratulations Harriet.
A peer of Ned Sublette's, Madison Smartt Bell, has written a biography of Toussaint L’Ouverture. Bell is known for his trilogy of novels about the Haitian Revolution (All Souls Rising; Master of the Crossroads; and The Stone That the Builder Refused). I’ve always been nervous about historical fiction because so much fiction does creep into the historical record through novels, biopics, and the like, so I’m glad that Bell has turned to biography.
At this juncture, I’d like to ask anyone who has read any of the books I’ve suggested, seen any of the films, or attended any of the art shows I mention here or elsewhere on the blog to come forward with a review. Good or bad, all are welcome. I just ask that you not be insulting if your review is not going to be a good one.
In that vein, has anyone seen John Sayles new movie Honeydripper? It premiered in New York City at the African Diaspora Film Festival. It’s playing at Cinema Village theaters. It’s on my way home, but I may never get to the theater to see it.
lll
I love Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, which I have read, but never seen on stage. But I have seen the stunning classic 1961 film starring Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, and Diana Sands.
Well, they’ve remade it for TV starring—that’s right, Sean Combs (Puffy, Diddy, and whatever to the rest of us) in the Poitier role of Walter Lee Younger. Here’s the trailer and I’m not going to say another word. You can judge for yourself whether you’ll watch it. It will be on ABC February 25 at 8 pm Eastern.
On cable television, Turner Classic Movies is going to be showing five films by the until recently lesser-heralded but brilliant independent director Charles Burnett. I was introduced to his work when I saw his film To Sleep with Anger in 1990, and it was the second time I realized that a movie can be made about black people, without it having to be about being black (although at times it is very MUCH about being black, if that’s confusing enough for you). The first time was when I saw Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It). Go here for the list of films, which includes his first, Killer of Sheep. Made in 1977, it remained in obscurity for 30 years, mostly because the cost of the music rights would have made it prohibitive to screen. The Library of Congress has declared it a national treasure as one of the first 50 on the National Film Registry, and the National Society of Film Critics selected it as one of the “100 Essential Films” of all time.
On a related note, To Sleep With Anger is not one of the five films that will be shown, and it’s not easy to get your hands on. It’s not on netflix yet (although it’s listed, and not listed in blockbuster at all) You can buy the DVD for 69 bucks and change at Amazon (only one was available when I checked), or if any of you out there still have a VCR, they have him new and used for reasonable prices. Your best bet is the public library. The NYPL has four copies.
On February 4, PBS will be airing Prince Among Slaves. Winner of the Best Documentary at the 2007 American Black Film Festival, and based on a biography of the same name by Terry Alford, Prince Among Slaves tells the story of Abdul Rahman, an African Muslim prince. Apparently, there are some re-enactments, which usually tend to get on my nerves, but I have a feeling these will be of a higher caliber. Happily, the documentary will be enriched by contemporary artworks, archival letters and diaries; and on-camera interviews with distinguished scholars and experts. Perhaps my favorite part about the entire production, aside from the topic, is that its narrated by Mos Def. A synopsis from the PBS Web site
If anyone is interested in an article about Abdul Rahman and other eighteenth and nineteenth century black Muslims in America, I’ll be happy to give you a copy of an article published in Legacy in 1998 called “America’s First Black Muslims” by Marc Ferris. Just e mail me.
In the next couple of days I'll be back with art, music, and theater.
Since the only images in this entry today seem to be men, I'm leaving you with this wonderful image of Ruby Dee by Carl Van Vechten from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript collection .
On Sunday, January 20 from 3 to 5 pm WNYC Radio and Civic Frame are cohosting a public conversation at the Brooklyn Museum called “Embracing the Radical King: Prophetic or Passé?” In the press release it is described as
“a critical examination and reclamation of a more complex Dr. King, featuring poetry, a montage of archival King photos and audio, and public conversation about some of his underemphasized, but no less defining, positions. Using Dr. King’s own words as a guide, WNYC Host Brian Lehrer and CivicFrame President April Yvonne Garrett will lead an interactive panel discussion in which esteemed public intellectuals and the audience will have the opportunity to explore the “Radical King,” and consider how he might have responded to some of today’s pressing social concerns.”
Topics will range from war in the age of terrorism, immigration, the role of religion in the political sphere, and health care, to the cultural currency of entertainers and athletes, to subjects Dr. King felt passionately about but that often go ignored in the national conversation, including poverty, the prison industrial complex, and the black church.
Danny Simmons, producer of Def Jam Poetry and poet Sonia Sanchez will participate.
If you can’t make the live event, excerpts from the event will air Monday January 21 on The Brian Lehrer Show, from 10am to noon on 93.9 FM, AM 820, and through live webstream at wnyc.org. A full webcast and podcast will be available at www.wnyc.org.
For more information, go here.
My friend Ned Sublette, who wrote the beautifully researched book Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo has come out with a second book The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square. When I finish the second book, I’ll be doing a mini interview with Ned here at Gotham City Soul. I’m just alerting you to both as well as Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington. Harriet writes for a healthcare supplement our magazine produces and has worked exhaustively to bring us this compelling book described as
“The first and only comprehensive exploration of the vast and horrific medical neglect, abuse and experimentation on African Americans, from the atrocities of slavery to the subtler but equally disturbing inequities of the recent past and present.”.
Harriet’s book is nominated for a National Books Critic Circle award. Congratulations Harriet.
A peer of Ned Sublette's, Madison Smartt Bell, has written a biography of Toussaint L’Ouverture. Bell is known for his trilogy of novels about the Haitian Revolution (All Souls Rising; Master of the Crossroads; and The Stone That the Builder Refused). I’ve always been nervous about historical fiction because so much fiction does creep into the historical record through novels, biopics, and the like, so I’m glad that Bell has turned to biography.
At this juncture, I’d like to ask anyone who has read any of the books I’ve suggested, seen any of the films, or attended any of the art shows I mention here or elsewhere on the blog to come forward with a review. Good or bad, all are welcome. I just ask that you not be insulting if your review is not going to be a good one.
In that vein, has anyone seen John Sayles new movie Honeydripper? It premiered in New York City at the African Diaspora Film Festival. It’s playing at Cinema Village theaters. It’s on my way home, but I may never get to the theater to see it.
lll
I love Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, which I have read, but never seen on stage. But I have seen the stunning classic 1961 film starring Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, and Diana Sands.
Well, they’ve remade it for TV starring—that’s right, Sean Combs (Puffy, Diddy, and whatever to the rest of us) in the Poitier role of Walter Lee Younger. Here’s the trailer and I’m not going to say another word. You can judge for yourself whether you’ll watch it. It will be on ABC February 25 at 8 pm Eastern.
On cable television, Turner Classic Movies is going to be showing five films by the until recently lesser-heralded but brilliant independent director Charles Burnett. I was introduced to his work when I saw his film To Sleep with Anger in 1990, and it was the second time I realized that a movie can be made about black people, without it having to be about being black (although at times it is very MUCH about being black, if that’s confusing enough for you). The first time was when I saw Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It). Go here for the list of films, which includes his first, Killer of Sheep. Made in 1977, it remained in obscurity for 30 years, mostly because the cost of the music rights would have made it prohibitive to screen. The Library of Congress has declared it a national treasure as one of the first 50 on the National Film Registry, and the National Society of Film Critics selected it as one of the “100 Essential Films” of all time.
On a related note, To Sleep With Anger is not one of the five films that will be shown, and it’s not easy to get your hands on. It’s not on netflix yet (although it’s listed, and not listed in blockbuster at all) You can buy the DVD for 69 bucks and change at Amazon (only one was available when I checked), or if any of you out there still have a VCR, they have him new and used for reasonable prices. Your best bet is the public library. The NYPL has four copies.
On February 4, PBS will be airing Prince Among Slaves. Winner of the Best Documentary at the 2007 American Black Film Festival, and based on a biography of the same name by Terry Alford, Prince Among Slaves tells the story of Abdul Rahman, an African Muslim prince. Apparently, there are some re-enactments, which usually tend to get on my nerves, but I have a feeling these will be of a higher caliber. Happily, the documentary will be enriched by contemporary artworks, archival letters and diaries; and on-camera interviews with distinguished scholars and experts. Perhaps my favorite part about the entire production, aside from the topic, is that its narrated by Mos Def. A synopsis from the PBS Web site
Abdul Rahman was captured in 1788 and sold into slavery in the American South. He endured the horrific Middle Passage and ended up the “property” of a poor and nearly illiterate planter from Natchez, Mississippi, named Thomas Foster. Rahman remained enslaved for 40 years before finally regaining his freedom under dramatic circumstances, becoming one of the most famous men of his day. He returned to Africa, his royal status acknowledged. Prince Among Slaves ends with a family reunion of Rahman's African and American descendants in Natchez, Mississippi.To see a clip, go here
If anyone is interested in an article about Abdul Rahman and other eighteenth and nineteenth century black Muslims in America, I’ll be happy to give you a copy of an article published in Legacy in 1998 called “America’s First Black Muslims” by Marc Ferris. Just e mail me.
In the next couple of days I'll be back with art, music, and theater.
Since the only images in this entry today seem to be men, I'm leaving you with this wonderful image of Ruby Dee by Carl Van Vechten from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript collection .
Comments
I was brought to recalling that it isn't only male orators that come out of the black churches. Sojourner Truth -- she cracked open the souls of audiences everywhere she spoke.
Love, C.