‘African-American Short Films’ gets an early start this weekend, in the state where my roots can be traced back to. Thursday night, the show airs on Baton Rouge’s KWBJ at 8 P.M. I’ve passed through Baton Rouge many times of course; as I’ve stated in this space, I spent a small part of my […]
Stokely Carmichael. Assata Shakur. Angela Davis. Bobby Seale. Huey P. Newton. For my generation, if you grew up around a certain dynamic those are all names you knew and heard about often, without living through the Experience. “The Black Power Mixtape” is a well-edited documentary that casts an eye on what those times were like […]
It’s both impossible and unfair to expect any one film to try to explain the entire history of African-Americans in cinema. But I tell you what, ‘Classified X’ is as close as they come. This documentary, written and narrated by Melvin Van Peebles, traces the history of blacks in cinema, and how movies, Hollywood […]
The dark cloud that’s been hanging over my head the past two years has finally dissipated into a thunderstorm, so I can talk about it (a little). This morning, my only sibling started serving a maximum prison sentence. The details of who/what/when aren’t important to what I’m writing here. Besides that, the rumblings of a […]
Business will be taking me to Vegas very soon. My first trip to Sin City was New Years Eve of the Millenium. Here’s what I remember: My drink was rum and Coke. We went to a corner store since we were staying in someone’s condo; came back, made our own drinks (I think mine […]
George Clooney’s latest, ‘The Ides of March’, is about a young idealistic campaign manager who finds his ideals challenged and must make the choice of whether to stick to his guns or ‘play the game’. It’s a good film and I’ve gone on record of being someone who drinks the Clooney Kool-Aid. But having said […]
I’ve spent quite a bit of time the past few weeks profusely thanking the people around me. Calling friends, hanging out, sending cards: doing right by those who have done right by me. Nothing extraordinarily good or bad has happened to me (yet), but the desire to be grateful has hit me. Depending on […]
It seems no one is happy in Hollywood right now. In this month’s GQ, Clint Eastwood and Leonardo Dicaprio sit down for an interview to promote their upcoming film, J. Edgar. During the interview, both men, who happen to be icons for each of their generations, lament on how difficult it is to greenlight […]
Some i’s have to be dotted and some t’s need to be crossed, but I got word today that this fall, ‘Lady In My Life’ will appear on the nationally syndicated ‘African-American Short Films’ showcase. For all the jokes and humblebrags I’ve made about this short not going away, the truth is that for […]
I made a deliberate choice not to speak on 9/11 this year. I’ve expressed my feelings before here and in other places, and I knew on this anniversary there would be many other voices. My friends on the ‘My Fellow American’ project continue to do good work and bring in the heavy hitters to […]
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