My classmate, Spirit Rowan single-handedly saved Black History Month, producing a 'double feature' of Black Pride goodness. Spirit co-sponsored the Third Annual "Reel" Civil Rights Film Festival in February. The festival features documentaries and films related to past and current civil and human rights issues in the United States and abroad. Jasmin and I attended "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes" written and directed by Byron Hurt. Byron showed the film in Austin through Hands On Central Texas Cultural Connections film series a few years ago, so I was familiar with the film but no less impacted. Hip hop has to clean its act up, but from the top down, not the bottom up. There are some quality artists - ARTISTS - out there that can bring it, they just need the appropriate (financial) incentive to do so. We are rewarding this senseless... [insert soapbox rant here]... so I hope you will see that Hip Hop is for suckas.
We also watched "For the Bible Tells Me So" written and directed by Daniel Karslake, "Something's Moving" directed by Randy Vasquez and produced by Jonathan Skurnik, and "Where the Water Meets the Sky" written by Jordan Roberts and directed by David Eberts. David Eberts visited the school this past Fall as well so that was a special treat.
The 'Second Feature' was so special. Spirit wrote and produced a play about her mother's life. "One Ninth" tells Minnijean Brown's (Spirit's mom) story from the perspective of a 'regular teenager,'granting an insider's look at the desegregation of Central High. It was a wonderful play; I could hear Spirit's soul in this play - her energy, voice inflections, every idiosyncratic mannerism manifested in the show. Very cool feeling.
Thanks, Spirit for saving Black History Month for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment