Ed Morrissey tweeted back to Shapiro: “The secret to success in life: Find someone who loves you as unconditionally and fiercely as the mainstream media loves the Obamas.”

Except they’re not “mainstream” at all. These “objective newspapers” are blatantly leftist partisan rags, as they demonstrate daily.

Shapiro quoted this saccharine passage about the Blessed Michelle: “She is on a journey. Through her stories, experiences, and thoughts, we’re finding the light with her. Lucky us.” Obama’s publishers tweeted out this quote, and then Newman retweeted the publisher like they’re all in the business of selling Michelle Obama.

So the people buying (and paying) Obama are lucky, and so are her pals. Newman added, “The fact that she loves ‘lowbrow TV’ and counts the hilarious but racy Ali Wong among her favorite comedians says the world about who Obama is when she gets together with those friends. Lucky them.”

The first line of Newman’s glittery bootlicking review is, “It’s not easy being Michelle Obama. Fabulous, yes. Easy, no.”

Later, she decries the “explosion of divisiveness” under former President Donald Trump, typically ignoring any introspection about the left-wing media endlessly and divisively smearing conservatives.

Newman complained: “You think it was painful for you to see a reckless crew in the White House? Try being the Obamas, knowing as you toss them the keys that so much of what you had worked for was about to be shredded like a cheap dog toy.”

Just see Newman’s tweets for her partisan background. She’s sharing feminist Hillary Clinton tweeting, “It turns out women enjoy having human rights, and we vote,” and retweeting praise for Pennsylvania Sen.-elect John Fetterman’s social media producer Annie Wu, “the genius who has been embarrassing Dr. Oz online this year. She is incredible and deserves our praise.”

When Barack Obama’s memoir, “A Promised Land,” came out right after the 2020 election, their New York Times book review also was destined to become a sales pitch. The publisher happily and repeatedly regurgitated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “Barack Obama is as fine a writer as they come … (A Promised Land) is nearly always pleasurable to read, sentence by sentence, the prose gorgeous in places, the detail granular and vivid.”

Now consider that just three months ago, Times book reviewer Dwight Garner shredded Jared Kushner’s White House memoir, “Breaking History.” It was “earnest and soulless — Kushner looks like a mannequin, and he writes like one.” Garner sneered in print: “Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog’s eye goo.”

When Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, assembled a motivational book, “Women Who Work,” the Times assigned the review to Jessa Crispin. Crispin wrote: “It reads more like the scrambled Tumblr feed of a demented 12-year-old who just checked out a copy of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations from the library.”

Crispin tweeted: “The New York Times forced me to read the Ivanka book. Which cleanse is best for toxins in the brain?”

Quoting these reviews does not mean that these books are good. It means that you can’t trust The New York Times to judge for you because their reviews of the Trump books sound more like they’re performing stand-up comedy for a rabidly left-wing readership. You can’t trust their Obama book reviews because they read like a gelatinous trail of happy tears and sputum.

Columnist; Tim Graham

He is also a four-time Grammy Award recipient who has been successful in show business for over 50 years. During that time, his vocal arrangements have been acclaimed in hit Broadway and West End shows that have been estimated recipients of at least 50 Tony and Olivier award nominations. Productions arranged by Chapman Roberts have been nominated for or won every single musical theatre award available worldwide. Chapman Roberts shows include “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” “Five Guys Named Moe,” “Blues in the Night,” “Eubie,” “Bubbling Brown Sugar” and “Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.” Roberts is currently involved in a major confrontation with “big boys” in the music business who have, for decades, financially exploited the talent of Black artists such as himself and their families. Roberts states, “The history of Black musicians is that far too often they died broke.”

Their plight is usually assumed to be the result of bad living habits and lack of business acumen. That’s not always the case. Singer/composer Johnnie Taylor’s heirs have been fighting the world’s largest music publishing company, Sony/ATV, for 21 years. Years of such caustic legal wrangling is a favorite delaying tactic of billion-dollar corporations whose pockets are much deeper than those of their beleaguered victims whom they have deprived and drained of their resources and inheritances.

My case is the most recent and yet to be revealed as Broadway’s largest copyright infringement and premeditated fraud case. I hope that my citing certain cases as a frame for my current situation will also serve to spotlight the systemic pattern of generational wealth and intellectual property theft from some of the world’s most prominent Black artists and their families at the deft hands of music and theatre industry producers and publishers.

We are reminded of the phenomenon of cultural appropriation in deliberately unexposed copyright and royalty infringements cases ranging from the iconic Bert Williams (1898), Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, Billy Strayhorn, Bill Withers, Tracy Chapman, The Isley Brothers, Little Richard, Michael Jackson, J. C. Johnson and Duke Ellington to the more recently infamous multimillion-dollar cases of Marvin Gaye, Martha and The Vandellas, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Prince and numerous other R&B artists such as Ruth Brown, Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy.

Denying Black musicians their royalties has a history emerging out of slavery. BMG’s review found four of its acquisitions paid Black artists below the level of non-Black acts on those respective labels.

So just who are these fearsome “Big Boys” involved in this current heretofore obscured “David and Goliath” confrontation? Among the well armed gangs of super powerful corporate exploiters seeking to crush Chapman Roberts are:

– The American Multinational Technology company self referred to as “one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world” and is one of world’s most valuable brands.
– The independent world leader in the development acquisition and management of recorded music.
– The largest publishing and licensing agent of Broadway theatrical and movie music in the world.
– The world’s number-one multibillion-dollar music publishing company, namely: (Broadway Royalty) Rodgers & Hammerstein Holding., Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, Concord Theatrical Corp., Mike Stoller, the estate of Jerome Leiber a/k/a the Jerome L. Leiber 1997 Family Trust, Leiber & Stoller Productions, Inc., Broadway Asia, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing, HBO, and “The Colossal,” Jeff Bezos’ Amazon.

According to Chapman Roberts, “Collectively, these crooks have knowingly, willfully, repeatedly, and deliberately deprived me of rightful compensation of substantial royalties owed and name credit for contributions to hundreds of unauthorized theatrical productions and tens of thousands of video, film, television, and internet streaming usages worldwide for well over two decades.”

Chapman Roberts is filing these egregious breach of contract actions seeking compensatory relief from the myriad damages foisted upon him in order to expose the Broadway and music industry’s pattern of flagrantly unlawful acts against him and others who have been maliciously robbed, cheated of inherited wealth, stripped of their family’s identity as valuable artistic contributors to cultural society and maligned as frauds, troublemakers, and mere attention seeking money grubbers because they dare to defy the odds and risk the unrelentingly standard harsh reprisals against them and their heirs for seeking full and undiscounted recompense from what Roberts calls “nothing less than a legally protected cabal of thieving, unjustly enriched, parasitic, privileged, talentless, inherently entitled, socially and politically shielded, artistically depraved, musically illiterate, cunning, custom-suited gangsters thinly disguised as managers, agents, promoters, producers and publishers as though they are some variety of culturally relevant endangered species.”

In a most recent stunning development a collective appeal by the pompously confident music moguls to have Roberts’ precedent setting case against them dismissed was soundly denied by the New York state Supreme Court. As a result, ferocious culpability infighting has broken out among the offending defendants themselves and certain highly successful Broadway producers who initially participated in and handsomely benefitted from a multitude of larcenous infringements with arrogant impunity are suddenly skirmishing to alert their legal teams to gird up their strategies in preparation for the ravages of the inevitable embarrassing subpoenas, mob style betrayals, finger pointing and litigious back stabbings as cleverly arranged, orchestrated and hereby publicized by the highly gifted Chapman Roberts.

You see, what the “big boys” failed to realize when they went after Chapman Roberts is that he is much more aware of what goes on under the tables and backstages of the Broadway and music industries than their usual targets. He is a highly experienced and resilient Black artist with a superbly cutting-edge blend of talent, intelligence, keen vision, self-confidence, persistence, savvy and boldness.

This is very evident in every show he has been involved with, including the historic Black Stars of the Great White Way, which he directed, conducted, arranged and co-produced with Norm Lewis. Co-hosts of the inspiring, educational, exciting and entertaining celebration at Carnegie Hall were Cicely Tyson, Phylicia Rashad, Chita Rivera and Ben Vereen.

Another Black cultural giant, the late Ernie McClintock, said, “Serious Black artists have the goal of stimulating an awareness of the Black experience and to express it through theatre which illuminates that experience.” Maestro Chapman Roberts is a master at doing just that.

Columnist; A. Peter Bailey

Official website; http://apeterbailey.webs.com

JAN. 5: These past few years have taught me not to so quickly judge the quiet Germans, Russians, etc. Of course, I still judge Germans who helped the Nazis and Germans who in any way hurt Jews. But the Germans who did nothing? Not so fast.

What has changed my thinking has been watching what is happening in America (and Canada and Australia and elsewhere, for that matter). The ease with which tens of millions of Americans have accepted irrational, unconstitutional and unprecedented police-state-type restrictions on their freedoms, including even the freedom to make a living, has been, to understate the case, sobering.

JAN. 12: We are faced with a lockdown on speech the likes of which have never been seen in America. And the parallels with Germany are even more stark. What the Left is doing is announcing — and enforcing — that conservatives “do not belong” in our society. The parallels to 1933 are precise. And most good Americans are keeping silent, just as did most Germans. Though they do not risk being beaten up, are Americans in 2021 as afraid of the American Left as Germans in 1933 were of the German fascists? We’re about to find out.

JAN. 19: Why does the Left need to crush all dissent? This is a question made all the more stark because there is no parallel on the right: Conservatives do not shut down dissent or debate.

The answer is the Left fears dissent. And they do so for good reason. Leftism is essentially a giant balloon filled with nothing but hot air. Therefore, no matter how big the balloon — the Democratic Party, The New York Times, Yale University — all it takes is a mere pin to burst it.

FEB. 9: The American medical profession as a whole and many individual doctors are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans — very possibly, more than that. Along with the media — from The New York Times to Google/YouTube, Facebook and Twitter — Americans have been denied both life-saving information and life-saving drugs.

FEB. 23: If you don’t hate communism, you don’t care about, much less love, people.

MARCH 2: The great tragedy of our time is that liberals vote Left. Virtually every value liberals have held for a century is now held by conservatives and scorned by leftists.

MARCH 9: Schools teach children to hate reason, tradition, America, Christianity, white people, excellence, freedom and masculinity. Parents must either find a school that teaches reading, writing and arithmetic rather than America-hatred, or they should home-school their child.

MARCH 16: The bigger the government, the fewer the institutions in which people can feel important. Therefore, given the deep human need to feel important, people will look elsewhere for their importance — like fighting systemic racism, heteronormativity, capitalism, patriarchy and transphobia. And, most of all, global warming — because you cannot feel more important than when you believe you are saving the world.

MARCH 30: When Christianity died in Europe, we got communism, fascism and Nazism. What will we get in America if Christianity and Judeo-Christian values die?

APRIL 6: Mask-wearing represents fear and blind obedience, not science.

APRIL 20: Whites aren’t hated for slavery. They are hated for making America and for making Western civilization.

APRIL 27: Affluence plus secularism equals boredom equals leftism.

MAY 18: The Left demands we believe and announce that men menstruate and give birth and that it is in no way unfair to girls and women when biological men compete in girls’ and women’s sports. In tens of thousands of American schools, students are brainwashed to believe that America was not founded in 1776, but in 1619. The world’s Left demands that we believe Israel is the villain and Hamas is the victim.

JUNE 8: The single best thing Americans can do to counter the left-wing attack on America — against its freedoms, its schools, its families, its children, its governmental institutions, its sports, its news and entertainment media, its medical establishment, the CIA, the FBI, the State Department and the military — is to take their children out of America’s schools.

Sending your child(ren) to most American schools is playing Russian roulette with their values — but unlike the gun in Russian roulette, which has a bullet in only one of its six chambers, the schools’ guns hold four or five bullets.

JUNE 15: Unconditional love is neither biblical nor rational nor moral. Can you name anything good that is or should be given with no moral or ethical conditions?

JUNE 22: If America is racist, why have millions of blacks emigrated here? Did Jews emigrate to Germany in the 1930s?

JUNE 29: “Safetyism,” like all religions, places what it values — in this case, being safe — above other values. Safetyism explains the willingness of Americans to give up their most cherished values — including liberty — in the name of safety.

The desire to lead as safe a life as possible is a major factor that explains why fewer and fewer young Americans are getting married and even fewer are having children. Neither marriage nor having children is safe. Both are filled with risks.

You can live a safe life. Or you can live a full life. You can’t live both.

JULY 20: You have a right to be transgender. You don’t have a right to expose your penis to women.

JULY 27: It is hard to imagine greater proof of the power of mass media and of the Left than a normal woman celebrating her daughter’s choice not to be a mother and not to make her a grandmother because of climate change.

AUG. 24: Imagine if some of the biggest cities in America seceded from their states. Imagine Illinois without Chicago, Pennsylvania without Philadelphia, California without Los Angeles or San Francisco, New York state without New York City, or Texas without Houston, Dallas or San Antonio. Those states would lose a major tax base and some of their best orchestras and other artistic institutions. But the gains in quality of life would completely offset any financial or artistic losses.

Big cities have been and continue to be centers of destructive ideas, and the people living in them are generally coarser and often just plain meaner.

SEPT. 7: Colorblind means one does not believe a person’s color is in any way significant. There is little that reveals the immorality, dishonesty and racism of the Left more than its war on colorblindness.

SEPT. 14: Will the Left succeed? Unless Americans fight the Left as hard as the Union fought the slave states, the answer is yes.

SEPT. 21: As America has become more secular, it has become less free. Individuals can differ as to whether these two facts are correlated, but no honest person can deny they are facts.

OCT. 5: There is almost nothing Democrats can do to damage America, or Israel, that would change most American Jews’ political leanings. The latest example took place just last week. A college student speaking to the vice president of the United States, a Democrat, condemned America for supporting Israel, and charged Israel with committing “ethnic genocide” against Palestinians.

Harris’ response?

“Your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth cannot be suppressed, and it must be heard.”

OCT. 19: The fate of America and the West lies largely in the hands of liberals. There are simply not enough leftists to destroy our most revered institutions. They need liberals to serve as fellow travelers to accomplish their ends.

OCT. 26: If no one goes to prison for actor Alec Baldwin’s accidental killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, our society will have failed a crucial moral test. We will be saying human life is not sacred; that it, in effect, is of little or no consequence.

NOV. 2: As incredible as this assertion is to just about all religious people and virtually all conservatives, most leftists do not believe stealing is wrong.

NOV. 9: Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, confirmed an Israeli study: “In Israel, vaccinated individuals had 27 times higher risk of symptomatic COVID infection compared to those with natural immunity from prior COVID disease.”

The denial of the efficacy of natural immunity is among the many reasons so many Americans no longer trust the American medical establishment.

NOV. 23: All my life, I thought love and hate were the two most powerful human emotions. But owing to recent events, I have changed my mind. I now understand that for most people, fear is the strongest emotion.

DEC. 7: If you are a conservative, why should you come out of the closet?

First, you will sleep better. Staying in the closet exacts a serious mental price. Second, kindred spirits, all quality people, will reach out to you, some of whom will undoubtedly become close friends. Third, you will respect yourself more. Fourth, you will help save this country from tyranny. For some, that is reason enough.

DEC. 21: Trans swimmer Lia Thomas is a cheat. As far as sports are concerned, one’s biology, not one’s gender identity, is all that matters.

Columnist; Dennis Prager

Official website; http://twitter.com/dennisprager

Morrison had recently received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “Beloved” — a novel based on an actual account about a Black woman who kills her own baby rather than seeing her child added to the inventory of property on a Southern plantation.

Students in the forum represented a variety of disciplines — from theology and ethics, my focus, to architecture, history, philosophy and politics. We examined every passage, every word and every idea presented and in some cases, challenged by Morrison.

And while many of us expressed our discomfort with the subject matter, we agreed that we could ill-afford to revise history to fit our personal preferences or squeamish sentiments.

As Morrison has often been quoted when asked about the book and her reluctance to broach the subject of the “invisible institution,” “I was keenly aware of erasures and absences and silences in the written history available to me — silences that I took for censure.”

And as one editor so eloquently shared in a recent Washington Post op-ed, those forces of erasure and censure “still haunt us” today.

During the recent gubernatorial race in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the newly-crowned governor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, gave new energy to an older debate about the appropriateness of books like Morrison’s “Beloved,” suggesting that it contains “sexually explicit content” which many parents continue to find both offensive and disturbing. He continued with his support of the proposal that parents should have the right to demand alternative assignments for any text that “prickled their sensibilities.”

So, what’s next?

Let’s go ahead and allow parents and students to opt out of an examination of the canon of American literature whenever their feelings are hurt. Let’s get rid of Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

All of these books or plays contain controversial matter. All of these texts broach subjects that cause many readers to shudder, to experience heightened levels of anxiety and to sometimes get outright angry. But they reveal the world as it was and the way society viewed and treated the issues as addressed in each text.

Let’s return to the controversy about “Beloved.” Truth be told, there’s no way you can whitewash slavery. It was and remains a scourge on the spirit and history of America. And it’s not just Blacks who suffered because of this heinous, inhumane practice of chattel slavery. Whites were impacted too.

Of course, Blacks suffered the most: physically, emotionally, spiritually and economically. And while the chains may be gone from view, they remain, albeit invisible to the naked eye.

It’s unfortunate that the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, Terry McAuliffe, misspoke when he said parents should not decide what’s taught in the classroom. I would hope that’s not what he meant to say.

Nonetheless, if we begin to allow parents or students to pick and choose the books they read because the subject matter ruffles their feathers, we may as well eliminate everything but fairy tales and nursery rhymes from the canon.

Oops, I forgot — some fairy tales cause children to experience sleepless nights and nightmares, too.

But then, history has the same effect — and not only on children but adults as well.

Banned & Challenged Classics
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“The Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger
“The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
“Ulysses” by James Joyce
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison
“The Lord of the Flies” by William Go

Columnist; D. Kevin McNeir

Official website; https://twitter.com/mcneirdk

Black films, directors, actors and artists shared the glory and attention with other contemporaries who were proud to have TFF as an international venue. As the festival inches towards the two-decade mark, it’s only getting better and maturing like a fine wine.

Black Films, Filmmakers, Actors and Artists

17 Blocks (****) Life expectancy in the U.S. averages out to around 79 years of age. That statistic skews much lower in this poignant and profound documentary about a Washington, D.C. family that’s on a different path. In 1999, nine-year old Emmanuel is given a movie camera. He uses it to chronicle the exploits of his mom, older brother, older sister and extended family. His lens captures the love in the air, the danger outside and the hope he brings to his family for a son who could be the first in their brood to go to college. Drugs, gangs and violence lurk. Emmanuel’s destiny takes a turn that will leave viewers spellbound. Over a 20-year period, this family’s dynamics, conflicts, breaththroughs and tribulations are recorded like an urban allegory. The span of time is reminiscent of the Oscar-nominated drama Boyhood. The soul of a young man gets an enduring legacy thanks to the power of film.

The Apollo (***1/2) The Apollo Theater was always so much more than a performing arts venue. Since 1934, it’s been a community center, talent scout hub, training ground for countless artists and a mecca that is destined to be both a shrine and a progressive cultural home—for years to come. Director Roger Ross Williams helms this ambitious project. Lisa Cortés is a producer alongside Jeanne Elfant Festa, Cassidy Hartmann and Williams. The perceptive writing by Cassidy Hartmann and Williams pays respect to the hall’s past and its extended family. The footage is most exciting when it depicts performances by legendary artists (Ella, Duke, Dinah, Billie), Motown (Smokey, Supremes, Temptations) and comedians (Moms Mabley, Richard Pryor). Veterans (e.g. Patti Labelle) share their anecdotes. The late Ralph Cooper recollects starting Amateur Night. Rarely has a history lesson been so damn entertaining. 

Burning Cane (***) And what were you doing at age 17? Phillip Youmans was writing his first script, which he turned into this Southern Louisiana melodrama about a mother (Karen Kaia Livers) who deals with an alcoholic adult son (Dominique McClellan), his boy (Braelyn Kelly) and a recently widowed and stressed-out preacher (Wendell Pierce). The sun beats down on this luckless family, who grinds itself into a deeper and deeper hole. Youmans’ premise and maturity go well beyond his years. He puts his characters in an angst that hovers over the entire production. For tone and drama, he gets an A+. For storytelling, a B-. For tech elements a C. The gritty feel is reminiscent of a John Cassavetes movie. Youmans’ cinematography needs developing; camera placement is questionable as is the lighting. If the footage has a Beast of the Southern Wild synergy, it’s because this movie’s executive producer, Ben Zeitlin, was that film’s director.

Devil’s Pie—D’Angelo (***1/2) Lots of musicians attract a following, but D’Angelo’s fans can be classified as an avid cult with extremely good taste in soul music. Part of the Grammy winner’s mystique centers around his 14-year-absence from recording (Voodoo in 2000; Black Messiah in 2014), which stunned his admirers. That mystery, his childhood, resurgence, live shows, recording sessions and musings are on view in this wonderfully crafted homage. Home movies and photos depict his upbringing, influential grandmother and days as his church’s organist. Personal anecdotes reveal his problems with alcohol and drugs. Attesting to his musical savvy and eccentricities are Questlove, Dave Chappelle and Erykah Badu. Though many put D’Angelo in his own niche (R&B, soul, funk, sexy songs with a hint of jazz), Prince’s influence is quite obvious when the singer wails. Thank documentarian Carina Bijlsma for the candid glimpse at a musical innovator who should be called a genius. Get ready to tap your toes and sing along to “Brown Sugar.”

Gully (*1/2)  Music video director Nabil Elderkin steps into the deep end of feature filmmaking and flounders. His technique is solid, especially the ways he moves the camera (cinematographer Adriano Goldman) around on evocative shots of palm tree-lined streets in Los Angeles. However, he’s wasted his talent on a misguided script (Marcus Guillory) that focuses on three unlikable and aimless adolescents (Jacob Latimore, Charlie Plummer, Kelvin Harrison Jr.). The trio go from playing violent video games to assaulting people on the streets—without any obvious motivation. Yes, they each have troubled pasts, but nothing that warrants physical attacks. Never believable. Never compelling. Pointless. Kids have excuses for making bad decisions. Adults, like the ones who made this repulsive drivel, do not.

Inna De Yard: The Soul of Jamaica (***) Showing admiration for reggae musicians from the ‘70s and ‘80s is this very inspiring doc’s goal. Shot largely in the hills above Kingston, British director Peter Webber gives a comeback platform to senior reggae stars like Ken Boothe, Winston McAnuff, Kiddus I, and Cedric Myton. Long past their heyday but still able to sell a song. Their stories of past triumphs are riveting and it’s a joy to watch them record again. They’re backed up by young musicians eager to play with their heroes. Judy Mowatt, legendary former Bob Marley backup singer, is a revelation. Reggae music, like Jamaica, is all about peace and love. That’s the takeaway. That’s what the audience will remember about this rousing, heartfelt documentary.

A Kid from Coney Island (***) We’re well-acquainted with basketball’s most successful players who soared into fame and fortune (Kobe, Magic, Michael, Larry, LeBron). We’re less familiar with hoop dream athletes who struggled. Stephon Marbury grew up in the Coney Island projects, where the only choices for rising above the fray was becoming a rapper, drug dealer or basketball player. Obsessed with the sport from a young age, he was influenced by his dad and brothers and nurtured by his older sis and mom. Steph was destined for greatness. He became a city champion, college star, draft choice and NBA legend. Only fate tossed him curve balls. Under the prying eye of doc directors Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, viewers watch a very talented man withstand the death of a parent, depression, a career that stalls and a surprisingly spiritual path to redemption. In this eye-opening and sobering documentary, we see how an eight-pound orange ball can take an inner-city kid to the other side of the world. More ups and downs and as exciting as the Cyclone roller coaster ride on Coney Island.

Lil’ Buck: Real Swan (***) The kids in Charles “Lil’ Buck” Riley’s low-income outer Memphis neighborhood flocked to the local roller rink at night and waited for the skating to stop and the dancing to begin. Jookin’ is the local dance form, akin to Crunking, Gangsta Walking and Michael Jackson’s stop-start-twirls. Lil’ Buck won a scholarship to a Memphis dance school, and added ballet to his mix. His blend of urban dance and classic technique is amazing to watch. Equally entrancing is this beguiling look at a young kid who blossoms as a person and a dancer. A career in L.A., performances with Yo-Yo Ma and touring the world are like a dream come true. Director Louis Wallecan doesn’t miss one step. Interviews with family, friends and admirers highlight a hybrid street dance, an art form created by an innovator who transcends life and description.

Only (**1/2) What if? What if after the apocalypse a virus became a plague that only killed women? That’s the premise of writer/director Takashi Doscher’s ultra-modern and very scary sci-fi nightmare. The focus is on a couple, Eva (Freida Pinto, Slumdog Millionaire) and Will (Leslie Odom Jr., Hamilton) who survive indoors using hazmat suits to stave off danger. Every scene is as creepy as the premise. Nice performances from the two leads. Ugly cinematography (Sean Stiegemeier) done in shades of gray, greens and browns make footage dreary. Can’t say Dosher is an accomplished filmmaker—yet, but this movie hits a nerve. Also, coming from a male director there is a misogynist undertone that just doesn’t feel right.

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (***) Saying she liked keepsakes is putting it mildly. Librarian, TV producer and political activist Marion Stokes had an obsession: capturing the news as it was depicted on TV. From 1979 (Iranian hostage crisis) to 2012 (Sandy Hook tragedy), she recorded newsfeeds from the networks on 70,000 VHS tapes. For an enlightening and somewhat somber history lesson, view this documentary to see how far society has evolved and what it has left in its wake. Documentarian Matt Wolf handpicks clips, adds in the essence of Stokes’ personality and interviews witnesses to her hobby. He creates a thought-provoking look at the upheavals, controversies and conflicts that have shaped this country. Racial and social issues come to the forefront.

Roads (**1/2) Actor turned director and writer Sebastian Schipper (Run Lola Runand Victoria) examines immigration with this vibrant road movie. British teen Gyllen (Fionn Whitehead, Dunkirk) steals his stepfather’s RV while in Morocco and heads towards France to visit his father. Along the way, he picks up a fellow traveler, William (Stéphane Bak), who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s interesting to watch the way they are treated differently as they travel. Gyllen makes his anger known and is oblivious to danger. The more reserved William knows danger way too well and can smell it before it happens. Their divergent points of view and cultural differences speak more about race relations than a college course. A thoughtful script (Schipper and Oliver Ziegenbalg), nice performances from the teens. Final scenes that depict refugees’ confined lives in France are solemn.

Skin (***1/2)  Tsotsi was the 2006 Oscar-Winner for Best Foreign Film and it chronicled the evolution of a hoodlum who seemed beyond redemption. This very daring and similar drama by writer/director Guy Nattiv is equally emancipating in its own way. Bryon Widner (Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool), a twentysomething skinhead is bullied by his adoptive parents (Vera Farmiga, Bill Camp) who are violent white supremacists. Life changes for him when he meets a single mom (Danielle Macdonald, Patti Cake$). It takes an even greater turn when he comes under the watchful eye of social activist Darlye Jenkins (Mike Colter, Luke Cage), whose foundation, One People’s Project, specializes in converting neo-Nazis. This is possibly the biggest character arc you will ever see in a film. Tense, suspenseful, dramatic, romantic and cathartic. Excellent performances from all in this stick-to-your-ribs true story. Watching human garbage turn into human beings can be extremely gratifying. Excellent.

What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali (***) Oscar-winner When We Were Kings focussed on Muhammad Ali’s “The Rumble in the Jungle” match. Does this doc have that much majesty? Almost. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) takes a more all-encompassing approach. Using never-before-seen archival footage, and with a great sense of pacing (editor Jake Pushinsky), Fuqua highlights Ali’s pinnacles and low points. He explores the champion’s social activism and personal life. Details about his entry into boxing, teenage years, relationships with Malcolm X and Sam Cooke are on the screen. The most surprising revelation is that Ali’s decision to flaunt a larger-than-life egocentric persona was influenced by the flamboyant wrestler Gorgeous George. Most of the memorable quotes come from Ali’s lips. It’s like he’s reaching back from the grave to remind us how brash and brave he was. Illuminating.

Films of Note

After Parkland (****) Rarely if ever does a film put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye for its entire length. Be prepared to be awed, humbled and inspired by the Parkland, Florida victims, survivors and activists. You’ve seen their faces on the news, now you get a close-up look at the people behind the headlines and the indomitable spirit they’ve collectively created that is bound to bring about change. The kids and adults are so bright and articulate that their words carry the film:  “Someone was hunting my classmates.” “Bullets shred anything in sight. Tissue, walls, desks, backpacks.” “We’re going to change the world.” Expert technique and sensitive filming by directors Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman make this an Oscar-caliber documentary.

Crown Vic  (***) The cop/crime/thriller genre gets a healthy dose of personal drama in this L.A.-based film noir that’s rough around the edges. First-time feature film director/writer Joel Souza pairs up two L.A.P.D. cops. The older crusty patrol officer Ray Mandel (Thomas Jane, Boogie Nights) shepherds the naive rookie Nick (Luke Kleintank, TV’s Bones) on an overnight shift. Meanwhile, two bank robbers/killers are on the loose. Mandel’s chilling words: “Take your badge off and put it in the glove box.” Their policing takes a turn towards the gutter. The beginning of the film is marred by too much dialogue in a claustrophobic patrol car, which kills momentum. Souza adds in a funny scene with a drunk lady, friction with undercover cops (Josh Hopkins, David Krumholtz) and a search for a missing kid to spice up the night. Jane is the glue and mortar. The dialogue is strong too. Mandel: ‘People Sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men do violence on their behalf.”  Someone call 911!

The Kill Team (**1/2) Dan Krauss made a doc about a true-life incident involving an infantryman in Afghanistan in 2010 who dealt with a commanding officer who was violent to innocent locals and his platoon too. He’s turned that project into a feature film, with varied results. Actor Nat Wolff plays the soldier and Alexander Skarsgård stars as the disturbed leader who doles out harsh reality to his men: “We kill people. That’s what we do. Do you have a problem with that?” The enlistee is in a quandary that could take his own life. How would you react? That intriguing premise saves the film. Edited down to 87 minutes (editor Franklin Peterson), the footage is never attractive (Stéphane Fontaine), the performances are only decent and the emotion never runs deep. Still, this film tells a powerful story.

Linda Ronstandt: The Sound of My Voice (***1/2) Singing in Linda Ronstandt’s family was as common as Sunday dinner, and she had the best voice, too. As a teen in a sibling folk group she developed a sense of harmony and a performance presence that kick-started her career in L.A. In the music industry, she stood out as a woman in a man’s world. She led her own band, made her own career decisions and went through a world-famous metamorphosis: Folk, pop, rock, soul, light opera, big band and Mexican folk music—she did it all. Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman bless the footage with childhood photos, concert video and insights by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt. The very well-read Ronstandt herself pipes in with anecdotes and philosophies that underline her intelligence shed light on her battle with Parkinson’s disease. A trip down memory lane, done to the tune of Grammy-winning songs by rock n’ roll’s first female superstar. A visual and audio retrospective that sticks with you.

The Quiet One (***1/2) The meek shall inherit the earth—and other stuff. Bill Wyman, the quietest musician in the Rolling Stones, is a historian. Director Oliver Murray gives the group’s bass player all the room he needs to shed light on his role as the band’s sober member. Fortunately for Stones fans, he was an avid collector of footage, photos and other memorabilia. You could almost classify him as a hoarder, except his stunning collection is so damn neat and organized. He’s stockpiled his knick-knacks in the most orderly filing system with documentation so elaborate it would shame a librarian. Hearing him talk about his idols Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Muddy Water and Howlin’ Wolf is heart-warming. Behind-the scenes details about the Rolling Stones’ tragedies, fiascos and creative process are equally fascinating. Oddly, the film does not cover Wyman’s controversial relationship with a teenager. Special shout out to Tim Sidell’s gorgeous cinematography and Anne Perri’s astute editing. Wyman is a quiet treasure and so is this doc.

Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation (***) “Well I came upon a child of God, He was walking along the road, And I asked him, Tell me where are you going, And this he told me…” Director Barak Goodman and his co-writer Don Kleszy take audiences behind the scenes of Woodstock to the muddy fields, horrible weather and peace/love vibe that became the legend of the occasion. It’s an event that has never been repeated successfully. Still, from the viewpoint of the common people who went, we get a new perception that those “highly” spiritual and heady days were more than a one-time phenomenon, they spawned a vibe that far outlived the concerts. On the stages, in this temporary city of 400,000 hippies, musicians like Richie Havens, CSN, Jimi Hendrix and the bunch look like heroes, though not as quite as gusty or adaptable as the venue’s stunned promoters: John Roberts and Joel Rosenman. Refreshing and a complete joy to watch in this day and age of hate mongering.

Tribeca is building a solid reputation as a film festival that values diversity, inclusion and new voices. It’s a champ at spotlighting emerging talent from around the U.S. and the world.

It’s no wonder black films, artists, their fans and others are supporting the fest with their work, participation and attendance.

For more information about Tribeca Film Festival go to: https://www.tribecafilm.com

Columnist; Dwight Brown

Official website; http://DwightBrownInk.com

In his book “The Philadelphia Negro” (1899), W.E.B. Du Bois posed the question as to what would happen if white people lost their prejudices overnight. He said that it would make little difference to most blacks. He said: “Some few would be promoted, some few would get new places — the mass would remain as they are” until the younger generation began to “try harder” and the race “lost the omnipresent excuse for failure: prejudice.”

Sowell points out that if historical injustices and persecution were useful explanations of group disadvantage, Jews would be some of the poorest and least-educated people in the world today. Few groups have been victimized down through history as have the Jews. Despite being historical targets of hostility and lethal violence, no one can argue that as a result Jews are the most disadvantaged people.

Jews are not alone in persecution either. The number of overseas Chinese slaughtered by Vietnamese mobs and the number of Armenians slaughtered by mobs in the Ottoman Empire in just one year exceeds the number of black Americans lynched in the history of the U.S. From 1882-1968, 4,743 total lynchings occurred in the United States, of which 3,446 of the victims were black. Sowell concludes this section suggesting that it is dangerous for society to depict outcome differences as evidence or proof of malevolent actions that need to be counterattacked or avenged. Politicians and others who are now calling for reparations to blacks for slavery should take note of Sowell’s argument.

There’s considerable handwringing among educational “experts” about the black/white academic achievement gap. Part of the persistence of that gap can be laid at the feet of educators who replaced what worked with what sounded good. One notable example of success is the achievement of students at the all-black Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., from 1870 to 1955. During that period, Dunbar students frequently outscored white students on achievement tests in the Washington, D.C., area. Sowell, who studied Dunbar and other high-achieving black schools, says, Dunbar “had unsparing standards for both school work and for such behavioral qualities a punctuality and social demeanor. Dunbar’s homework requirements were more than most other public schools. Some Dunbar parents complained to the D.C. Board of Education about the large amount of homework required.”

Dunbar High School was not the only black school with a record of success that would be the envy of today’s public schools. Schools such as Frederick Douglass (Baltimore), Booker T. Washington (Atlanta), PS 91 (Brooklyn), McDonogh 35 (New Orleans) and others operated at a similar level of excellence. By the way, these excelling students weren’t solely members of the black elite; most had parents who were manual laborers, domestic servants, porters and maintenance men.

Observing the historical success of these and other black schools, one wonders about the catchwords of Chief Justice Earl Warren’s statement that separate schools “are inherently unequal.” That vision led to racial integration going from being a means to an end to racial integration becoming an end all by itself. Sowell doesn’t say this, but in my view, integration becoming the goal is what has made diversity and inclusion the end all and be all of today’s educators at many levels.

Dr. Thomas Sowell’s “Discrimination and Disparities” is loaded with pearls of wisdom from which we can all benefit, and as such, this will not be my final discussion of his masterpiece.

Purchase Book; https://www.amazon.com/Discrimination-Disparities-Thomas-Sowell/dp/154164560X

Columnist; Walter E. Williams

Everyone in Birmingham wasn’t thrilled, though. Some people in the conservative Southern town seemed disturbed that she had been a member of both the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. Others were concerned about her support of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement) against the Israeli occupation. She has said that she stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and advocates for their fair treatment in Israel.

Some ill informed people consider the BDS movement “anti-Semitic”. They suggest that any questions that one raises about Israel shows a bias against Jewish people. But Davis, a lifelong human rights activist, is concerned about the humanity of Palestinian people, as well as other people. And she is rightfully concerned, as many of us are, about the spate of laws recently passed that downright outlaw the BDS movement. According to the Middle East Monitor, a teacher in Texas, Bahia Amawl, refused to sign an oath that required her to pledge that she “does not currently boycott Israel”, that she will not boycott Israel and that she will “refrain from any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel”. Texas is among some 25 states that have passed laws forbidding the state from doing business with companies that boycott Israel! It will also not invest pension funds in companies that support BDS. Thirteen more states including Washington DC, have similar laws to the Texas law pending, pitting people’s first amendment rights of free speech against support for Israel. And Florida Senator Marco Rubio, in the middle of a government shutdown, had the nerve to introduce national legislation that mirrors the Texas law (actually, Illinois was the first state to pass this discriminatory law).

Lots of people in Birmingham aren’t having it. Though the “Civil Rights Institute” has rescinded its award to Dr. Angela Davis, there has been significant protest about the decision. Birmingham’s Mayor, Randall Woodfin, who is a non-voting member of the Museum Board and did not participate in the decision to rescind the award (the city provides the museum with about a million dollars a year in operating funds) has expressed his dismay about the decision. Three board members have resigned from the board. And Alabama columnist Roy S. Johnson has written a fiery column accusing the Civil Rights Institute of insulting Rev. Shuttlesworth and staining its own legacy. Johnson says the Birmingham Jewish community may have been the loudest, but not the only folks pushing for Davis’ award to be rescinded.

Who rescinds an award after it has been granted for statements that were not recently made, but are a matter of record? Angela Davis has long been an outspoken activist, just like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was. Nothing had been changed from the time Davis was notified of the award and January 4, when it was rescinded. The BCRI did not have to honor Davis, but their canceling the award is a special kind of insult. Fortunately, Angela Davis has a thick skin, and she knows exactly who she is. She didn’t cringe when then-California governor Ronald Reagan had her fired from UCLA for her membership in the Communist Party. She didn’t flinch when she was incarcerated for a crime she did not commit. And she will not tremble because the BCRI rescinded the award.

Indeed, demonstrating the indomitable spirit that she is known for, Angela Davis will travel to Birmingham in February for an alternative event. And the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum has egg on its face. That city showed a young Angela Davis who they were when the Four Little Girls, some of whom she knew, were killed at the 16 Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. And they are showing her who they are once again. Shame and shade!Unfortunately, I’m not surprised. One of the founders of the Women’s March has demanded the resignations of Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour because they attended one of Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Savior’s Days. Marc Lamont Hill lost his CNN commentary gig because he spoke up for Palestinian rights. Alice Walker has been criticized because she supports BDS. Now Angela Davis is being denied an award. When is enough going to be enough?

For the record, I support Palestinian rights. And I support Israel’s right to exist. Are the two incompatible? I think not. The one-state solution, with a right to return, and full citizenship rights for Palestinians makes sense. But Israel is not about to budge, and BDS as an attempt to influence it. States passing laws to outlaw free speech erodes the first principle of our Constitution and undercut the actions at the very foundation of our nation. Remember the folks who dumped tea into the Boston Harbor because of an unfair tax? Today that action might be against the law!

Columnist; Julianne Malveaux

FB Page; http://facebook.com/julianne.malveaux

Written pledges submitted by February 25, 2019 can be paid through the end of calendar year 2021 (up to a 3-year pledge). Donations will support the museum’s educational programming and operations. The new museum, which is reopening soon, is a program of the Dr. James Cameron Legacy Foundation (DJCLF). Abele’s challenge grant is a catalyst to help raise the remaining $400,000 of DJCLF’s $1.5 million fundraising goal for 2018.

Like the original museum (which operated from 1988 to 2008), the new ABHM will include exhibits on African people before captivity, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, auction blocks, the civil rights movement (both past and present), as well as local and national civil rights leaders. One of the primary goals of the museum is to share the under-told stories that are an integral part of U.S. history.

“I’m grateful to have the opportunity to support this amazing and important museum,” said Abele.  “I truly believe that clarity and openness about this chapter of our nation’s history is more

important now than it ever has been.  Milwaukee will be a stronger community for both knowing that history and, in particular, celebrating Dr. Cameron’s courage and profound commitment – along with many other advocates and activists from diverse backgrounds – to repairing and healing our racial divisions. It is my hope that this challenge grant inspires others, not only to help support this museum, but to re-dedicate themselves to the more just, equitable, and compassionate community that we all know Milwaukee can and must be.”

ABHM was founded in 1988 by Dr. James Cameron.  He survived a brutal 1930 lynching in Marion, IN when he was just 16 years old.  Dr. Cameron went on to devote his life to civil rights and promoting a just and peaceful society.  He founded ABHM to teach others about the forgotten history and harmful legacy of slavery, as well as promote racial repair, reconciliation, and healing. Until 2008, ABHM was a beloved cultural institution that welcomed thousands of visitors from around the world, with an emphasis on young people from local schools and universities.  The original museum closed two years after Dr. Cameron’s passing in 2006. The new museum is built upon the same footprint as its predecessor on the corner of Vel R. Phillips Ave. (formerly 4^th St.) and North Ave.

To have your financial gift matched by Abele’s challenge grant, please submit all donations or pledge commitments by February 25, 2019.  You can donate on-line at ABHM 2018 Campaign or mail your pledge commitment or check payable to the Dr. James Cameron Legacy Foundation at 11933 W. Burleigh St., Suite 100, Wauwatosa, WI 53222. Download a pledge/donation form here. For other ways to give, including underwriting opportunities, please contact us at 414-374-5353 or email development@abhmuseum.org.

ABOUT DR. JAMES CAMERON LEGACY FOUNDATION, INC.

The nonprofit Dr. James Cameron Legacy Foundation (DJCLF) was founded in 2012 by friends and supporters of Dr. James Cameron to continue his legacy. Its mission is to build public awareness of the harmful legacies of slavery in America and promote racial repair, reconciliation, and healing. We envision a society that remembers its past in order to shape a better future – a nation undivided by race where every person matters equally. The new physical museum will complement DJCLF’s virtual museum (www.abhmuseum.org), which was created in 2012 to share Dr. Cameron’s story and museum exhibits to a broader national and international audience. Over 5 million visitors from over 200 countries visit ABHM’s Virtual Museum annually. For more information and to donate, visit https://abhmuseum.org/support/.

Contact: Nancy Ketchman

Dr. James Cameron Legacy Foundation

development@abhmuseum.org

Cell: 414-305-6923

Black films, filmmakers, actors and artists basked in the glow of a festival that has matured nicely into a friendly, well-run event that is attracting a wider, more sophisticated audience.

Black Films, Filmmakers, Actors and Artists

All About Nina (****) If you liked Lady Bird, you’ll love this far more adult and bitterly sarcastic feminist tale. It’s an ode to a troubled but hugely talented comedienne named Nina (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, The Hollars and TV’s Fargo). Spanish writer/director Eva Vives (Raising Victor Vargas) displays a keen sensitivity for funny and graphic language, female/male relations, lust and New York vs. Los Angeles living. Winstead is brilliant as the comic with a dark past who works out her demons on stage eviscerating men and bragging about her one-night stands. Finally, she meets her perfect counterpart, the very caring Rafe (Common), who treats her with respect. The dance the two do around feelings and past emotional disasters is ingenious. In one endearing performance, the rapper/Oscar-winning songwriter/actor Common turns himself into a very bankable leading man.

Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes (***) From a jazz fan’s point of view, the Blue Note Records label had a history of featuring impressive artists: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk. For musicians in search of a fair deal, this company run by German Jewish refugees Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff and started in 1939 in New York, treated them equitably, paid them royalties and guided their careers. Several living legends—Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Robert Glasper, Norah Jones—share their experiences with the eight-decades old label they call home. Their stories touch the heart and mind as deeply as their music. Masterfully directed by Sophie Huber and perfectly edited by Russell Greene with evocative photos and footage that bring back memories of the pioneers of jazz.

Mr. Soul! (***1/2) For five revolutionary years (1968-73), the daring public television show SOUL!showcased emerging black musicians (Labelle, Novella Nelson, Al Green), poets (Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, The Last Poets), intellectuals (James Baldwin, Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis) and dancers (Judith Jamison, George Faison, Alvin Ailey). The show was the love child of the brainy, very sociable and now deceased producer/host Ellis Haizlip. His niece, Melissa Haizlip, and veteran documentarian Samuel Pollard (Sammy Davis, Jr: I’ve Gotta Be Me) have directed and produced a stirring homage to the TV program that broke the mold. In today’s socially and politically tumultuous times, SOUL! and its forward-thinking MC seem so prophetic. During the TFF opening night screening The Last Poets (Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan and Felipe Luciano) reunited, the legendary Sonia Sanchez read her fiery poetry, Lalah Hathaway and Robert Glasper performed, Blair Underwood, who provided Ellis’ voiceovers in the film, was the host and the loving spirit of the TV trailblazer Haizlip hovered above.

Obey (**1.2 ) Six black directionless adolescents roam the streets of East London looking for trouble. Leon (Marcus Rutherford), who is built like a basketball player but prefers boxing at his local gym, is particularly adrift, emotionally and psychologically. He’s staying with his alcoholic mom (T’Nia Miller) whose white boyfriend is a bully. Leon escapes into the arms of a white girl named Twiggy (Sophie Kennedy Clark), a squatter at an abandoned townhouse.  Chaos, uprisings and riots surround them in the streets, where police battle disenfranchised youth. Writer/director Jamie Jones sets the story, location, urban scenes and tense relationships in a boiling pot brimming over with illicit drug use, binge drinking, petty crime and the wildness of youth. The situations look vivid (Albert Salas’ camerawork), but the film’s purpose seems blurry and its storyline leads nowhere. T’Nia Miller’s raw, outstanding performance as a scarred maternal figure is so blistering it could peel paint off walls. Anyone can write a story about hopelessness. Only a few know how to take it further.  Jones does not.

O.G.  (**1/2 ) Jeffrey Wright (Basquiat, Ride with the Devil, Angels in America) isn’t often cast as a lead in a film, so this performance is a rare gem. Louis (Wright), an old-timer in a maximum-security Indiana prison and a former, powerful prison gang leader, has mellowed. He’s weeks away from freedom, after serving nearly 24 years for murder. Just as he nervously readies himself for a new life outside the pen, he takes a new inmate (Theothus Carter), who is in deep trouble with a rival faction, under his wing. Will Louis look forward or risk being snared in jail forever? Opening scenes languish on Wright’s face, which in glances and grimaces intricately lays the foundation for a convict who is dealing with inner turmoil and outer rivalries and who has a persona that’s as solid as the prison’s cement floors. You never question the surroundings or circumstances because the Louis character is such a strong anchor. The script (Stephen Belber) and direction (Madeleine Sackler) shoot for stark realism but settle for soft TV-ish drama (no graphic violence, or nudity).  Yet, still, one of America’s most talented actors creates an indelible character—from ashes.

Satan & Adam (***1/2) Back in the early ‘80s, the white Princeton/Columbia University grad student Adam Gussow was reeling from a breakup with his girlfriend. He stumbled upon Sterling Magee, aka Mister Satan, who was singing the blues and playing guitar on a sidewalk on 125^thSt. in Harlem. The youngster boldly asked if he could play his harmonica with the former backup musician for James Brown. Magee said yes. The odd street duo Satan and Adam, forged in the midst of an explosive racial divide in NYC (the Howard Beach incident), signed a record deal and toured the world opening for acts like Bo Diddley. Documentarian V. Scott Balcerek (LeBron James documentary More Than a Game), pieces together decades of footage, photos and interviews into a tapestry that is never less than heartening. The two souls weathered disdain, fame, mental illness and the aging process on their journey together. Watching their very different lives is captivating.

United Skates (****) When Dr. Dre and Queen Latifah were starting their careers and couldn’t get played on radio, they played their music and made appearances at roller rinks, which have long been credited for being the cradle of hip-hop and rap. For decades, rinks formed social communities in urban areas all over the country from NYC to LA, Chicago to Philly. Adults turned children onto the joy, making the past time generational. This enlightening doc follows several families who’ve bonded and become dedicated rink rats. From what’s on view and told in recollection, roller rinks and skating have followed social patterns that parallel America’s evolution. Some older black skaters remember not being allowed into white rinks, demonstrating against the segregation and being attacked by white supremacists. Others lament the closing and decline of rinks in America due to rezoning, which has made way for condos and big stores, further killing the artform. Directors Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown chronicle the history, examine the racial politics and pay due homage to the one neutral territory where LA’s fighting Crips and Bloods forgot their differences and had fun—a black-owned roller rink. As one fan puts it, “They can take the building, but they can’t take the spirit.” The proof is on the screen. Illuminating, touching and uplifting.

Films of Note

Diane (***1/2) Now the Oscar-winning film Manchester by the Sea has an equally poignant companion piece. This thoroughly compelling story, about a seventy-something mom (Mary Kay Place) whose is coming to grips with a life of incessant sacrifices that have left her depleted, has a similar familial feel and New England location. Faithfully, Diane checks on her belligerent drug-addicted adult son Brian (Jack Lacey, Miss Sloane), her dying cousin (Deidre O’Connell) and the folks at the soup kitchen where she volunteers. She gives, but never takes. Kent Jones’ screenplay creates a cast of local rural characters consumed by small talk and wallowing in mundane lives that seem very working class and universal. Diane tries to make things right in her life. It’s a challenge when your whole life is devoted to everyone else’s needs. Excellent direction, dialogue and ensemble acting make what’s on view a totally captivating look at the passage of time and last chapter of life.

Studio 54 (***)Tracing the rise and fall of Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, the creators of Studio 54 America’s most famous discotheque (1977-80), is nostalgic and fun: Best friends from college, the two upstarts renovated a Broadway theater (originally built as the Gallo Opera House in 1927) and turned it into the consummate nightclub, attended by chic people, like Liza Minnelli, Grace Jones, Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol; straights, gays and transgender folk; models, bankers, trendsetters and drug dealers. The guys are widely credited for inventing the velvet rope, because they picked and chose who could enter their Eden. Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor) is meticulous in his assemblage of interviews, newspaper headlines, grainy footage and all the visuals it takes to recreate an era gone by that was both progressive and the height of debauchery all at the same time. Schrager is alive to tell the story, and he spills all the beans, shameless or not. It’s enough to make you want to put on your platform shoes and dance under strobe lights.

We the Animals  (**)This is a rare coming-of-age film that’s based on a first-time novel by Justin Torres. Torres won an NNACP Image award for writing about his personal experiences growing up in rural upstate New York: Three young Latino brothers,  Manny (Isaiah Kristian), Joel (Josiah Gabriel) and Jonah (Evan Rosado) are being raised by a depressed mom (Sheila Vand) and an abusive dad (Raúl Castillo). The kids set up various mechanisms to survive their ordeal. Jonah, the youngest, escapes into a world of fantasy that he records in a diary of images and cryptic writing. The screenplay (Daniel Kitrosser) and direction (Jeremiah Zagar) are great at establishing the characters, time, place and emotional circumstances.  However, creating a plausible, consistently-engaging film is beyond those good intentions. The gimmick of Jonah’s drawings coming alive on-screen in very crude animation is distracting, not beguiling. The film never recovers from the irritating tonal shifts, even with the good performances.

A small upstart film festival has matured into a world-class event that is living up to its ambitions, becoming New York’s favorite fest and a worthy showcase for black talent. For more information about the Tribeca Film Festival go to: https://www.tribecafilm.com

Columnist; Dwight Brown

Official website; http://DwightBrownInk.com

One of those myths is that but for the fact of discrimination, we’d all be proportionately represented in socio-economic characteristics, such as career, income, education and incarceration. The fact of business is that there is no evidence anywhere on earth, at any time in human history, that demonstrates that but for discrimination, there would be proportionate representation in anything by race, sex, nationality or any other human characteristic. Sowell shows that socio-economic outcomes differ vastly among individuals, groups and nations in ways that cannot be explained by any one factor, whether it’s genetics, discrimination or some kind of exploitation.

A study of National Merit Scholarship finalists shows that firstborns are finalists more often than their multiple siblings combined. Data from the U.S., Germany and Britain show that the average IQ of firstborns is higher than the average IQ of their later siblings. Such outcomes challenge those who believe that heredity or one’s environment is the dominant factor in one’s academic performance. Moreover, the finding shows that if there is not equality among people born to the same parents and living under the same roof, why should equality of outcomes be expected under other conditions?

In Chapter 2, Sowell provides evidence that people won’t take racial discrimination at any cost. The higher its cost the less it will be tolerated, and vice versa. One example is segregated seating on municipal transit in the South. Many companies were privately owned, and their decision-makers understood that they could lose profits by offending their black customers by establishing segregated seating. Transportation companies fought against laws mandating racially segregated seating, both politically and in the courts, but lost. Companies even chose to ignore the law. Faced with heavy fines, though, they began to comply with the law.

The point is that the difference between the white transportation owners and the white politicians and segregationists was the transportation company owners had to bear the cost of alienating black riders and the politicians and segregationists didn’t. Sowell broadens his analysis to show that regulated companies and organizations – such as public utilities and nonprofit entities, including colleges and government agencies – will be at the forefront when it’s politically popular to discriminate against blacks but also will be at the forefront when it’s politically popular to discriminate in favor of blacks. Why? Because in either case, they don’t bear the burden of forgone profits.

In Sowell’s chapter titled “The World of Numbers,” he points out what I’m going to call out-and-out dishonesty. In 2000, a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights study pointed out that 44.6 percent of black applicants were turned down for mortgages, while only 22.3 percent of whites were turned down. These and similar statistics led to charges of lending industry discrimination and demands that government do something about it. While the loan rejection rate for whites was 22.3 percent, that for Asians and native Hawaiians was only 12.4 percent. Those statistics didn’t see the light of day. Why? They didn’t fit the racial discrimination narrative. It would have been difficult for the race hustlers to convince the nation that lending institutions were discriminating against not only black applicants but white applicants, as well, in favor of Asian and native Hawaiian applicants.

At several points in the book, Sowell points to the tragedies created in the pursuit of social justice. He gives the example of the Gujaratis expelled from Uganda and the Cubans fleeing Cuba. Many of the Gujaratis arrived in Britain destitute but rose again to prosperity. It’s the same story with the Cubans who came to the U.S. and prospered. By losing their most productive people, both Uganda and Cuba became economic basket cases.

The general public, educators and politicians would benefit immensely from reading “Discrimination and Disparities,” if only to avoid being unknowingly duped.

Columnist; Walter E. Williams