I got two heads ups from Facebook friends who are heading to Park City, UT in January.
First I have to say I love Billy Luther’s poster for his documentary “Grab,” and the tagline: “Indian-Giver Redefined.” Billy’s film, “Grab” is a portrait of a little-documented Grab Day in the villages of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, who annually throw water and food items from the rooftop of a home to people standing below. A community-wide prayer of abundance, thanks, and renewal, Grab Day exists at the intersection of traditional Native and contemporary Western cultures. Luther’s film follows three families as they prepare for the annual event, chronicling their lives leading up to this day.
I met Billy while he was promoting and screening “Miss Navajo,” about the annual contest for young Navajo women. One of my favorite docs and experiences meeting and hanging out with Billy and Crystal (subject of the film). “Grab” will have its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It was supported by the All Roads Film Project, so I’m guessing it will be part of the festival at National Geographic next year.
An earlier Sundance heads up came from Rashaad Ernesto Green who transformed his NYU student film project “Gun Hill Road” into a feature film. It will compete in the U.S. Dramatic category at Sundance. I remember when Rashaad was getting into production for this film or was it another. He’s got quite a plate. Rashaad was one of the scholarship recipients of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. Esai Morales, a co-founder of the organization, appears in “Gun Hill Road” as the father who returns to the Bronx to find his wife estranged and his teenage son stumbling towards a transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test. What test, I’m not sure. But Judy Reyes, Harmony Santana, Vincent Laresca, and Miriam Colon round out the cast. The film is written and directed by Green.
Mi Alma Films (“My Soul”) was created out of a need to make films that were truthful, fulfilling and heartfelt. We hope to encourage people to have an active emotional experience by telling stories that are deeply rooted within the universal human experience, making us truly aware of the world in which we live and the commonality within us all.
Ron Simon‘s Simon Says Entertainment which has just released “Night Catches Us” is a producer for “Gun Hill Road.” His production company’s purpose/tag line: Tell Every Story.
I defer this post to my 2008 Thanksgiving post – still one of my favorites. Here’s the link.
Last year I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with my family at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. We almost missed having turkey due to the crowds. In keeping with that spirit, I share this news forwarded to me by my sister Rose from WAVY-TV10 of Norfolk, VA:
Nansemond Indian Tribe to get land
Suffolk gives green light to Mattanock Town
Updated: Thursday, 18 Nov 2010, 12:58 AM EST
Published : Thursday, 18 Nov 2010, 12:49 AM EST
SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – The City of Suffolk made history Wednesday night. Elected leaders agreed for the first time in Virginia’s modern history to give locally owned land to native residents, without a lawsuit.
Nansemond Indian Chief Barry Bass told council members, “Mattanock Town will give Nansemond people land that was once the site of one of our villages, and can once again become our sacred home.”
Chief Bass has worked toward creating Mattanock Town for about a decade. He and several other speakers said it will bring the Nansemond heritage back to the city. Mattanock Town would include hiking trails, picnic areas, Pow Wow grounds, and a museum.
Several speakers urged council to give land at Lone Star Lakes Park to the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association (NITA) for the authentic village.
“Please support Chief Bass and the project he’s planning to do,” Catherine Jones of the Chuckatuck Civic League said.
Members of the Nansemond tribe trace their roots back to the 1638 wedding of Captain John Bass and a woman named Elizabeth, who was the daughter of a Nansemond Chief.
Assistant Indian Chief Earl Bass explained during a public hearing that “before English settlers arrived, the land that is now Suffolk belonged to our ancestors. The Nansemond Indian tribe has not owned any of their original land on the water since 1650.”
The project is expected to draw tourists to Suffolk. Native American education will also be available which would help Virginia students fulfill Standards of Learning requirements.
Jesse Bass, a member of the Nansemond Indian Tribal Council said, “If the Nansemond history and culture are not preserved and taught to others, all of our children will grow up learning what my generation was taught, and that’s nothing.”
Council members voted in favor of the plan 7 to 1.
Mayor Linda Johnson told the crowd she had “never been more proud of a vote.” Later she told WAVY.com, “I think this is going to put Suffolk on the map. It’s what they deserve, it’s the right thing to do, and I’m just really, really happy.”
Leroy Bennett who represents the Nansemond Borough voted against the Development Agreement and land transfer.
After the public hearing, Bennett asked if there were plans to upgrade the roads leading up to the property where Mattanock Town will be located. Bennett said he had concerns about traffic and safety.
City Manager, Selena Cuffee-Glenn explained that there are currently no development plans outside of Lone Star Lakes Park, so restrictions or requirements were not a part of the deed transfer discussion.
There is a list of requirements NITA must comply with for the deed transfer to be complete. On the list are prohibitions of gambling and casinos, as well as an agreement that NITA will fund any improvements to the property.
Lone Star Lakes Park is nearly 1100 acres of undeveloped property, including wetlands, in the Chuckatuck section of Suffolk. Mattanock Town would cover approximately 70 acres, of which NITA contends only 44 acres would be buildable. The rest would be preserved and used for nature and environmental education and scenic overlooks.
An existing cabin at the park the city currently rents to the public will eventually become NITA’s property. However, staffers announced at the council meeting Wednesday that the City will honor all existing reservations through August of 2011.
The Big Read cranks up in DC this week. Under the chairmanship of Dana Gioia, the National Endowment for the Arts decided to launch an initiative to support local efforts to present community reads and address what they sited as a declining readership among American adults. D.C.’s been hosting Big Read events since 2007. I’ve been part of that launch and this year’s Big Read events presented by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC. DC is reading A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines for the 2010 Big Read DC.
The way I see the Big Read the local goal is to uncover and gather in DC stories inspired by a Big Read book.
This evening at 6:30 PM the focus is TEACHERS and their true-life stories at Barnes & Noble Booksellers (555 12th Street, NW). The event is titled “Why I Do What I Do.” There always has to be a reason for the season. The storytellers are real teachers and educators: Delores Bushong, resource teacher for gifted students at Wakefield HS (Arlington, VA); Rita Daniels, executive director of Literacy Volunteers and Advocates; and Frazier O’Leary
a star English teacher and baseball coach at Cardozo High School (Washington, DC). DC’s public high schools are reading A Lesson Before Dying thanks to another generous grant from Reading Is Fundamental.
Door prizes, give aways and cookies. It’s free. Big Read DC activities will happen during the months of April and May. Visit www.wdchumanities.org/bigread2010. The 2010 Big Read DC is presented by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the DC Public Library.
If you’re a DC area teacher, tutor, or educator who assigned A Lesson Before Dying to your class for the Big Read DC, the Humanities Council would like to know about your experience teaching the book. Fill out this survey and share your story.
FILMFEST DC Filmfest DC also kicks off this week. The opening night event is tomorrow with a screening of “Hipsters,” a film by Valerie Tordorovsky. I guess it’s “Beehive” with a Communist swing. The price for opening night is $40 and includes a reception at Mazza Gallery near Chevy Chase. Will there be cake? This is FilmfestDC’s 25th year.
My involvement is with a new series “Justice Matters.” These films are being presented to highlight how the medium addresses and can influence change around social justice issues. Two of the films on my plate are “Soundtrack for a Revolution” and “Sun Behind the Clouds.” You can meet the filmmakers Dan Sturman, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam at a free Filmmakers Breakfast Salon (breakfast is on your own) Saturday, April 24 at 9:30 AM at Busboys and Poets(5th & K Streets, NW). RSVP filmfestdc2010[at]gmail[dot]com.
“Soundtrack for a Revolution,” a film by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, tells the story of the civil rights movement in the U.S. through the “movement music” protesters, picketers, and other activists sang during marches, inside jail cells, and at organizing meetings. The music is performed by a new generation of professional musicians including John Legend, Joss Stone, Mary Mary, The Roots, as well as veterans like Richie Havens, and the 5 Blind Boys of Alabama. Archival footage and interviews with key activists like Andrew Young and John Lewis are part of the mix. The film will be shown on Friday, April 23 at the Regal Theater on 7th Street (Verizon Center downtown). See more in this clip.
“The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom,” a film by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, gives both background and updated information on Tibet’s quest for independence from China. In this documentary Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is caught in the middle of a struggle between a super power who wants to exert its full control over the Tibet province, and a Tibetan movement for independence. Though the Dalai Lama’s “middle way” or compromise with China doesn’t seem to appeal to either side, the reality is time is running out for one generation. A new generation’s desire to take another path to freedom is coming of age. The film will be shown Saturday, April 24 at 7 PM at the Regal Theater. See more in this clip.
FINAL FAREWELL TO UNDERCOVER BLACK MAN
Monday I attended the funeral for David Mills, aka on this blog as Undercover Black Man. The service was held at the University of Maryland Chapel in College Park. Mills’ nephew Clifton Porter II has posted a eulogy on the UBM blog “blowing UBM’s cover.” Porter also delivered the eulogy at the funeral ending with the P-Funk pledge and perhaps epitaph: “…to funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk.” Mills was the author of an oral history of George Clinton and P-Funk.
David Simon, co-creator of the new HBO series “Treme” (with Eric Overmeyer) praised his friend’s work and gestures when a line or scene struck home (the downpunch that went no where), Mills’ ability to jump into the eye of the storm without fear of reprimand, and love of writing and story. Simon met David Mills while they were students at the University of Maryland working on the campus newspaper. I asked David Simon about the tribute to Mills at the “Treme” premiere party in New Orleans last Saturday. [Note: as of yesterday, “Treme” has been renewed for a second season by HBO.] Simon said there was a traditional New Orleans second line, a funk band, and they planted an oak tree in David Mills’ memory. I’ll visit that oak tree when I go to New Orleans to pick up where I left off with the “Church Lady Cake Diaries.”
After the funeral I crept back onto UBM’s blog to read about his life in New Orleans. It’s been a struggle to read the blog as it was an on-going chat with David that is now finished…maybe. The family has decided to keep it on-line. I believe it will inevitably become a very important document and maybe even my road map when I return to New Orleans, the city apparently where David Mills was no longer undercover.
2,836,576 metric tons of food entered the United States through the Port of Los Angeles last year. The largest import: fruit. The best-represented exporting country, Chile.
Source: Saveur March 2010
When I read this I couldn’t help but wonder what impact will the earthquake have on Chile’s infrastructure, not to mention the country’s people – especially working people. Chile’s ports were badly damaged by the earthquake and the tsunami. Summer is almost over and school starts in March in Chile and much of Latin America. The harvest season is done; and it’s too soon to tell what impact the earthquake has had on the future of the country’s agricultural exports.
Is there a connection between fruit for sale and the desperation of people taking food from grocery shelves in the city of Concepción, the second largest city and the one most affected by the earthquake? Can those ships out at sea turn back with its cargo of blueberries and raspberries? I never buy fruit that isn’t in season in the U.S. anyway. Tsunamis are now wiping out coastal cities. I see more indigenous Chileans sleeping outdoors.
The quake has also exposed the fact, experts say, that although Chile is one of the most developed countries in the region, it is also one of the most unequal, with huge pockets of urban and rural poor, who suffered most in the quake.
Source: The New York Times (March 2, 2010)
I awakened when dreamland gave way beneath
my bed.
-Pablo Neruda, “Earthquakes,” Canto General
I purchased a copy of Canto General in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ernesto Guevara (aka Che) always carried a copy of Neruda’s poems with him. Chile was the first leg of Ernesto’s journey as a young med student which was recorded in his “Motorcycle Diaries.” What are homeless Chileans carrying to their tents?
Saturday’s Chile earthquake was so powerful that it likely shifted an Earth axis and shortened the length of a day, NASA announced Monday.
Source: National Geographic News
Talk about last days kind of events. Are we getting older faster or just faster?
It seems we’re all in this together.
The Red Cross has set up a relief fund for Chile. You can find out more here.
I’m still baking chocolate chip cookies from the Christmas batch. Great idea to scoop the cookie dough, plop the balls into a plastic bag, then toss them in the freezer. I bake as the craving hits me.
This year I hope I can indulge in the National Museum of the American Indian’s annual “Power of Chocolate“ Valentines Weekend (February 13 and 14). Let’s face it, the world would be a dull place if it weren’t for the Americas.
Here’s a little factoid blurb from the website:
Theobroma cacao was for the Maya and the Aztec peoples, as its Latin name indicates, a “food of the gods.” .
Here’s some video from last year:
REALITY RESTAURANT AUDITIONS
This was in the Slow Food DC newsletter (February). I sent it to my sister. We had this idea of opening a cafe featuring homemade cakes, desserts, with something savory on the side. We don’t do food fights.
24 Hour Restaurant Battle-OPEN CASTING CALL
Food Network’s new restaurant competition series from the producers of The Next Food Network Star is currently casting the very first season and is holding an open casting call
on Monday, February 22, 10am – 3pm
Zentan Restaurant/Donovan House Hotel
1155 14th Street NW, Washington, DC
They are looking for:
Two to five person teams with pre-existing relationships (brother and sister, mother and son, husband and wife, etc.) who would love the chance to prove that they can run a restaurant.
A dynamic front of house and back of house duo. One person on the team will run the front of the house and the other person on the team will be the chef and run the kitchen. All levels of experience (culinary school trained to home cook, little or no restaurant experience to a lifelong career in restaurants) will be considered.
Lots of energy and charisma, personalities that pop!
If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to contact:
Alena Jemas, Casting Producer,24 Hour Restaurant Battle
Food Network/CBS News Productions
Office: 212-975-4125
Mobile: 201-415-8843
Email: jemasa@cbsnews.com
or visit www.24hourrestaurantbattle.com.
If most people have never heard of the brand of vodka or rum you drink, then you’d enjoy reading Dori Bryant’s The Polished Palate newsletter. Polished Palate readers are not amateurs when it comes to fine and refined spirits and cocktails. There’s a lot of history in a glass of rum as we learned at the January Food and Folklore event at Eatonville Restaurant (mentioned in the recent issue). Hat tip to Daphne Muse, our Zojito mixologist who hipped us to Dori’s newsletter. Polished Palate’s 5th Annual International Rum Festival in St. Petersburg, FL is March 27th.