Blog Archives

What we're reading now

10/25/2020

Dr. Alexander Riegel will be hosting a book club for:
Howard Zinn’s
“A People’s History of the United States”
2005 pub: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, ISBN 0-06-083865-5
2003 pub: Harper Collins, ISBN 0-06-052842-7
To participate, register with him at [email protected]

This article illustrates the timeliness of reading this book:"Why President Trump is targeting the 1619 Project"

0 Comments

Movie Recommendations

10/25/2020

0 Comments

Kathy Marcozzi has offered this list of movies
that depict black life in a loving and authentic way:

Cane River (1982) Written, produced, and directed by the late Emmy Award-winning Horace B. Jenkins, financed by New Orleans' Rhodes family, and crafted by an entirely African American cast and crew - CANE RIVER is a historically informed love story set in Louisiana's Natchitoches Parish, a "free community of color."
Tongues Untied (1989) - TONGUES UNTIED was written and directed and narrated by Marton Riggs who with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act.
Something Good Negro Kiss (1898) - Something Good – Negro Kiss is a short film from 1898, that was added to the American National Film Registry in 2018. It is believed to be the earliest on-screen kiss involving African Americans and is known for departing from the prevalent and purely stereotypical presentation of racist caricature in popular culture at the time it was made.
Losing Ground (1982) - Losing Ground is an amusing but standard menage a trois, set in a small college town. The principle difference between this and other such films is that all the characters are African-American.

0 Comments

Creators Highlight - Chadwick Boseman

10/25/2020

0 Comments

Just a month ago, Chadwick Boseman was lost to the world as a result of colon cancer. Through his role as King T'Challa in the Black Panther movie, he became a symbol of Black strength, courage, and pride. Beyond this blockbuster role, he also is known for his portrayals of Black cultural iconsJackie Robinson and James Brown. It is beyond us to faithfully explain the significance of Mr. Boseman's acting to our Black brethren around the world, but we have seen the profound impact of his death in your lives and honor him, his works, and what he symbolizes to all of us. 'Wakanda Forever!'

Boseman at the 2018 Oscars. Photo by Jordan Strauss Invision AP
apnews.com/article/5f4352111fdead278da3651b44d311b8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadwick_Boseman

0 Comments

"If You Don't Know Me By Now" by E. Ethelbert Miller.

10/25/2020

0 Comments

Shared by Marlane Washington:
Here is a short article giving a writer's point of view about Black Lives Matter - "If You Don't Know Me By Now" witten by E. Ethelbert Miller.
https://www.awpwriter.org/magazine_media/writers_chronicle_view/4716/if_you_dont_know_me_by_now

0 Comments

The DuVernay Test

10/25/2020

0 Comments

Many of us have heard of the famous Bechdel-Wallace Test, but just in case, here's a reminder:

Summarized briefly:

1) The movie has to have at least two women in it,
2) who talk to each other,
3) about something other than a man

Similar to this test for female representation in media, we would like to share with you the DuVernay test for Black representation in media. This test:

1) measures whether a film portrays “fully realized” African-Americans and other minorities who
2) have their own plotlines, motivations, desires, and actions
3) that are not informed by white characters

To learn more, you can read about its origin here:
The DuVernay Test

During your next movie night, we encourage you to subject the black characters you encounter to the DuVernay Test as a way of examining how much implicit bias may exist in the entertainment media that we regularly consume.

0 Comments

What we're reading now

Movie Recommendations

Creators Highlight - Chadwick Boseman

"If You Don't Know Me By Now" by E. Ethelbert Miller.

The DuVernay Test

Archives

Categories