SPIKE LEE’S NEXT REQUIEM
After visiting New Orleans for the first time in 2007, I bought my own DVD copy of “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts,” Spike Lee’s HBO documentary about the slow emergency and recovery response to the Katrina tragedy. The documentary was one of the few voices at the time placing the (correct) blame of the devastation to New Orleans by flood on the breaching of the levees. Lee vowed to return for a follow-up (read sequel), but it looks like this story is taking another turn.
Today, Spike Lee and his film crew were spotted by Times-Picayune reporter Matthew Hinton at today’s BP protest in Jackson Square.
See the Times-Picayune gallery of the protest here. This one’s weirdly interesting. Oh dear, another Tea Party moment here
PRESIDENT’S WEEKLY
Vice President Joe Biden will lay the ceremonial wreath at Arlington National Cemetery tomorrow, while President Barack Obama lays a wreath at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, IL outside Chicago. The First Family is spending Memorial Day weekend in the Chi-House. The President recorded his Memorial Day message for the Weekly Address. Transcript here.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN D.C.
We’ve gotten used to the motorcycles riding up and down the streets. The annual ride has become a Memorial Day fixture. In fact, the Rolling Thunder riders follow traffic rules better than the locals. The organization was formed by Vietnam veterans to bring full accountability for POWs and MIAs.
Memorial Day is a good time for the locals to enjoy their city. Restaurants, cafes, and hot spots aren’t packed. The traffic’s light and there’s more on-street parking.
WETA (PBS) hosts their annual Memorial Day Concert on the U.S. Capitol lawn tonight. Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna host the annual tribute to America’s military personnel.
SYMPOSIUM: Cuba in the World: Literature, Politics, Performance
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Ariel Fernandez at the Future of Music Policy Summit. Ariel’s working on a new documentary “Hip-Hop in Cuba: a Revolution Within the Revolution.” He sent me an email to let me know that he’s in DC this week for a very interesting event at George Washington University presented by the department of English. Ariel will present his project on Friday. Check it out!
Cuba in the World: Literature, Politics, Performance
October 8 and 9, 2009
George Washington University
Thursday, October 8, 8 p.m.: Reading and Discussion with Novelist Mayra Montero
Marvin Center, 3rd-Floor Amphitheater, 21st Street N.W. between H and Eye Streets
Mayra Montero, an award-winning novelist and renowned journalist, is the author of Dancing to “Almendra,” The Last Night I Spent with You, and many other works.
Moderator: H.G. Carrillo, George Washington University
Friday, October 9: Symposium
Marvin Center, Room 405, 21st Street N.W. between H and Eye Streets
10:30 a.m. to noon: Political Presents
“‘Justice and Humanity Before the Nation’: Is a Post-Bellum and Post-National Cuban Republic Possible?” José Buscaglia-Salgado, SUNY-Buffalo
“Pánfilo, Ojama: Reflexiones Sobre Raza y Nación en la Cuba Contemporanea/Reflections on Race and Nation in Contemporary Cuba.” Yesenia Selier, Writer and Performer, NYC
“Washington and Havana: Prospects for Normal Relations in the Obama/Raúl Era.” Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive
Moderator: Antonio López, George Washington University
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.: Cultural Conditions
“Staging the Racial Past.” Jill Lane, New York University
“Hip-Hop in Cuba: A Revolution Within the Revolution.” Ariel Fernández, Writer and Producer, NYC
“Love in the Temporarily of Diaspora: The Post-Cuban Mode in Cristina García’s A Handbook to Luck.” Ricardo Ortiz, Georgetown University
Moderator: José Esteban Muñoz, New York University, and Wang Visiting Professor in Contemporary English Literature, George Washington University
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Documentary Screening, La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul (Filmmaker Ela Troyano Present for Discussion)
Ela Troyano is a Cuban-American filmmaker and documentary artist living in New York.
SO YOU KNOW YOU CAN DANCE? MAURICE HINES IN TOWN FOR WORKSHOPS AND AUDITIONS
Dancer, choreographer, and Broadway legend Maurice Hines is in DC next week to give two master classes and hold open auditions for the Arena Stage production of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Ladies” (opening in April 2010).
The master classes are for advanced dancers with background in jazz, hip-hop and tap. The classes are FREE and will be in two locations on Tuesday, October 13: 12:15 to 1:30pm – Howard University (2455 Sixth Street, NW); 3:30 to 4:45pm – the Duke Ellington School for the Arts (3500 R Street, NW).
The OPEN dance audition for “Sophisticated Ladies” is Wednesday, October 14 at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U Street, NW). Men and women of all ethnicities with strong jazz, ballet and tap background are welcomed to audition. Registration for men begins at noon with auditions from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, and registration for women starts at 2:00p.m. followed by auditions from 3:00 to 5:00pm. Individuals interested in pre-registration may e-mail résumé and headshot Jamil Jude at jjude@arenastage.org or call (202) 554-9066, ext. 284. [Serious] Walk-ins welcome. (Note: I added “serious.”)
THE DAY AFTER COLUMBUS DAY AT THE WHITE HOUSE – FIESTA LATINA
I’m sure it’s no accident that Columbus Day falls within Hispanic Heritage month. Without Columbus, let’s face it, there would be no Hispanic Heritage. Afterall, he was on an errand for Spain. How you interpret the outcomes depends on where you are now 500+ years after the encounter.
WETA is taping a special concert at the White House Tuesday, “Fiesta Latina” for “In Performance at the White House.” Another quick turn-around for WETA as the concert will air nationally on PBS October 15. Guest artists include George Lopez, Gloria Estefan, Los Lobos, Jimmy Smits, Sheila E, Marc Anthony, and others. There’s also a guest chef: Maricel Presilla who specializes in Latin American foods. Her restaurants, Zafra and Cucharamama are located in Hoboken, NJ. Love the music on her restaurant sites. For an historical assessment of how the Columbus’ voyage changed the way we encounter and are encountered by our environment including food, a good book is The Columbian Exchange by Alfred W. Cosby originally published in 1972.
REV. PETER MORALES, FIRST HISPANIC PRESIDENT OF THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION
Sunday, October 11 Rev. Peter Morales will be in the pulpit at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC (16th & Harvard Streets, NW). Rev. Morales is the first Hispanic president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Unitarian Universalism combines two denominations–Unitarianism and Universalism–with a history that goes back several hundreds years in Europe and its emergence in the U.S. in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Rev. Morales will join the National Equality March with UUA congregations and the Standing On the Side of Love campaign. You can read Rev. Morales’ endorsement of the march here.
BEN ALI, Founder of Ben’s Chili Bowl No true blue Washingtonian doesn’t know about Ben’s Chili Bowl or hasn’t met one of the Ali’s. The now world-famous carryout restaurant’s founder, namesake and owner Ben Ali joined the ancestors last night. He died of natural causes in his home. He was 82. Ben’s Chili Bowl was founded in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali in a former silent movie theater. Ben immigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad and attended Howard University.
The Chili Bowl is known for it’s famous chili dog and half smoke. It also had a reputation for being a gathering place for local punditry from all walks of life and as an after-hours spot for musicians and Howard University students. I don’t think they would take offense in being called a “neighborhood joint.” Ben’s Chili Bowl survived when U Street went into urban decline from white and black flight to the suburbs and after the 1968 riots. When the lights of “Black Broadway” went out, Ben’s were still bright and the chili dogs and fries were still being served up. Ben Ali was a constant neighbor and made the Chili Bowl community space. His most famous customer and friend is comedian Bill Cosby who started frequenting Ben’s while courting a young DC woman named Camille. Though this year a President Elect’s visit may have topped a Cosby siting.
Since Ben Ali’s illness, Ben’s Chili Bowl has been managed by his family including his wife Virginia, and sons Kamal and Nizam. They recently opened a sit down restaurant next door, simply called, “Next Door.” This blogger extends sympathies to the entire Ali family –our good neighbors.
Community Cinema, the ITVS outreach initiative for the PBS series, “Independent Lens,” is presenting [FREE] community screenings and discussions of the documentary TULIA, TEXAS. Community Cinema holds monthly preview screenings across the country to encourage community dialogue on social issues and opportunities to get involved with local organizations and institutions.
ABOUT TULIA, TEXAS: A product of the nation’s “war on drugs,” narcotics agent Tom Coleman was hired to work undercover in a now-infamous drug sting operation in Tulia, Texas. On July 23, 1999, Coleman executed one of the biggest drug busts in Texas history; by the end of that blazing summer day, dozens of residents of the small farming town of Tulia had been rounded up and thrown behind bars. Thirty-nine of the 46 people accused of selling drugs to Coleman were African American. Directed by Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen, TULIA, TEXAS will have its television premiere on the Emmy® Award–winning PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by Terrence Howard, in February, 2009 (check local listings).
The Washington, DC Community Cinema screenings are…
Sunday, January 4 at 4 PM, Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St., NW
presented as part of ACTOR (A Continuing Talk On Race)
Sunday, January 25 at 3 PM, Washington DCJCC, 1529 16th St., NW at Q
A panel will follow the screenings featuring attorney William E. White who helped lead the legal team that represented the 39 African American defendants; Sanho Tree of the Institute for Policy Studies Drug Policy Project; Naomi Long of the Drug Policy Alliance Network for the DC Metro area; and Kara Gotsch of The Sentencing Project (community partner for the TULIA, TEXAS DC screenings)
The screenings are FREE and open to the general public. To reserve for the DC screenings, email tuliatx@communitycinema-dc.org.
WPFW-FM, D.C.’s Pacifica station, has been promoting the first screening in DC on its social justice calendar for the past several weeks. On Thursday, January 1 at 7 PM – that’s New Years Day – this blogger will be on “2K Nation,” WPFW’s teen public affairs program with Netfa Freeman, director of the Social Action and Leadership School for Activists (SALSA) to talk about the film and the Community Cinema series.