Kuntu’s “Ma Rainey” hits the right notes

by Rasida Olabisi

            Kuntu Repertory Theatre presented August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in the auditorium of the Homewood branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. “Ma Rainey is the only play of Wilson’s “century cycle” that did not take place in Pittsburgh; instead it takes place in a low-budget studio in the mid-1920s Chicago.

            While the title may lead you to believe the play is all about the famous Ma Rainey, “mother of the blues” (an oft-mentioned fact through the course of the play), its more about the undercurrents of the exploitation of music by the record producers (still relevant nearly a century later) and the quest for dignity and self-determination in a still young 20^th-century darkened by the long shadow of Jim Crow as the great migration is picking up steam.

            The studio operators are determined to maintain an upper hand so that late arrival of Ma Rainey causes some consternation to the high-strung Sturdyvant, who is placated by his minion and assistant, Irvin. As the musicians trickle in ahead of Ma, they head to a lower level rehearsal room to warm up. They use that time to shoot the breeze, sharing stories about life, music, philosophy and verbal josting.

            The newest member of the backup band, Levee, is the young hothead of the lot and somewhat of a legend in his own mind, ready to set the world on fire with his horn. Toledo, the piano player, occasionally looks up from his newspaper and shares his wisdom without being asked while Cutler, the trombonist and Slow Drag, the bassist, bicker over sharing smokes. Levee, excited at the prospect of recording his arrangement of “Black Bottom,” assumes the band is jealous when they balk about the new version of the song and the testosterone and accusations fly.

“Through The Night” is a phenomenal performance

(Originally published February 1, 2012)

 

by C. Denise Johnson

For the New Pittsburgh Courier

The latest offering at Southside’s City Theatre is a solo performance by a one man force of nature known as Daniel Beaty. In his self-written production, “Through The Night,” Beaty presents a composite piece of one evening seen through the eyes of six interconnected characters: a child prodigy, a high school graduate leaving the projects for college, an ex-con, a record executive, an entrepreneur and the bishop of a mega-church.

            Tapping into his formal theater training, God-given talent and his own life, Beaty easily morphs into each character with the astonishing ease of a chameleon and does so seamlessly as he introduces them.

Eric, the 10-year old scientist, is a young eager sponge who absorbs everything within his grasp and his dad, the 50-something Mr. Rogers struggles to keep the doors of his health store in a neighborhood that needs what he’s selling but won’t buy it. Dre, the 30-ish ex-felon struggles to maintain his sobriety from addiction who anxiously awaits the birth of his first child in the hospital waiting room.

Meanwhile the good Bishop, who recommended Dre to Mr. Rogers for hire, is fighting his own demons as he enters his golden years and wonders when the family scion, 40 year-old Isaac, is going to settle down and give him grandchildren. The college-bound 'Twon is determined to become a Morehouse man like his mentor, Isaac.

The characters serve as a composite of the complexity that is the African American male viewed through their struggles and challenges with health issues, education, economics, addictions, hopes, dreams, aspirations and interaction with one another. As they confront their individual moment of truth through a common unexpected experience, each embraces their potential.

A stark stage, projection imaging, offstage sound effects and wooden crates serve as the only props and they are really all that is needed as Beaty weaves a masterful tale with tasty concoction of drama, comedy, poetry, music and movement to propel this work’s momentum. With no intermission, this 80 performance is a tour de force because Beaty invests every molecule of his being into “Through The Night.”

“Through The Night” continues through February 5 at City Theatre. For ticket information visit citytheatrecompany.org or call 412-431-CITY.

Red Tails soars on the big screen

(Originally published January 25, 2012)

 

by C. Denise Johnson

For New Pittsburgh Courier

The much anticipated feature film about the heroic Tuskegee Airmen has finally hit the big screen. What was intended to be the equivalent to a patriotic John Wayne war flick with Black heroes has turned into raging controversy of whose vision/version is correct and the Internet is the battlefield.

In the weeks leading up to films release there was mass marketing appeals on network and cable TV, much of it targeting African Americans to support “Red Tails” by filmmaker George Lucas (of Star Wars fame). Intrigued and inspired by hearing about the exploits and gallantry of the underdog Tuskegee Airmen, who defied conventional (i.e. white supremacist) logic and proved themselves to be worthy warrior more than capable of helping to defend the free world from the Axis powers, Lucas thought that he could make a movie about it.

That was when Lucas found out about the America many of us (including the men Lucas wanted to pay homage to) know all too well… Hollywood wasn’t interested in a film with an ensemble cast of Black men portraying real life American hero with a director and scriptwriter. Fortunately, the force was with Lucas – to the tune of $93 million of his own money, he is the force – and despite the lack of studio support  for a budget or marketing Lucas put together an old school Saturday matinee, grab-the-popcorn-and-raisinets  action war flick with slick aerial dogfights, lots of explosions, special effects and plenty of honor and valor with none of the coonery and buffoonery (or Madea) that some think is necessary to get the Black masses to the cinema.

To be sure the critics and haters are having a field day saying the plot is flimsy and there are no Black women and that the film downplays the extent of racism the airmen endured while fighting overseas in a white man’s war to maintain a freedom they had yet to enjoy at home.

People, chill out – this is a movie, not a documentary. This is entertainment, not history. Lucas should not be held to any higher a standard than the filmmakers of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced movies of World War devoid of Black participation. Remember “Saving Private Ryan” – hello?

Lucas’ “Red Tails” uses composites to tell the story of the Black pilots of the experimental Tuskegee training program courageously waging two wars at once – one against enemies overseas, and the other against discrimination within the military. Racial prejudices long held ace airman Martin "Easy" Julian (Nate Parker) and his squadron back at base - leaving them with little to do but further hone their flying skills - while their white counterparts are shipped out to combat after a mere three months of training.

Mistakenly deemed inferior and assigned only second-rate planes and missions, the pilots of Tuskegee have mastered the skies with ease but have not been granted the opportunity to truly spread their wings until their immediate commanding officer, Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terence Howard) issues an ultimatum to his superiors – either put them in combat to prove their mettle or disband them. Of course, we now know the rest is history.

“Red Tails” may not be 100-percent authentic, and it does gloss over the extreme racism that was part of the military culture before President Harry Truman desegregated the armed forces after World War II (due in no small part to the exemplary service of the Tuskegee Airmen and their counterparts in the other branches of the military) but it is something to cheer about. The ensemble cast that depicts these flying warriors and their ground crew bring a proud, understated dignity and humanity to the screen that befit the veterans whose story they portray. The audience should expect no less or no more.

The surviving Tuskegee Airmen are finally receiving some measure of the long-overdue acknowledgement and appreciation for their sacrifice to this nation in the face of discrimination, segregation and at times outright contempt after returning home from the front lines across the globe.  Hard-won medals on their uniforms did not protect them from lynching once they returned home from war.

For those who want to split hairs about the accuracy of Red Tails – do the research. Hopefully this movie will encourage young people (especially young Black males) to learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen, emulate them and aspire to live their own dreams in the face of haters and naysayers. For everyone else, get your drink, popcorn and raisinets and settle into your seat for a few hours of bad guys and good guys, good against evil, and be prepared to leave a winner.

Founder marks Kwanzaa’s 45 years of cultural consciousness

(Originally published January 4, 2012)

by C. Denise Johnson

For New Pittsburgh Courier

            Every year like clockwork you count on articles to surface debating the relative significance of the Kwanzaa. Some decry it as a made-up holiday that seeks to displace Christmas while others focus on credibility of its founder instead of the virtues of the observance. Despite the controversy, Kwanzaa thrives in more progressive pockets of the Black community, mainly on the east and west coasts, reports of the holiday’s demise are greatly exaggerated.

            Pittsburgh has an ardent community-base for Kwanzaa and it was out in full force during the final week of the year. Celebrations were held throughout the city in Homewood, East Liberty and Downtown at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. Perhaps the most vibrant observance of all took place in the Hill District Thursday evening when the Kente Arts Alliance, Ujamaa Collective and the Hill House Association hosted a day-long Kwanzaa event of educational Afrocentric activities in the Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium on Centre Avenue.

A multi-generational gathering of several hundred took in and presentations for the entire family including book authors, vendors of handcrafted and imported clothing and giftware, artisans, learned of traditional African holistic healing methods used to treat a variety of ailments certified herbalists while taking in live performances of music, drummers, dance and spoken word and enjoying complimentary meals of the African diaspora. The highlight was a lecture by Dr. Maulana Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa.

Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies at California State University-Long Beach and Executive Director of the  African American Cultural Center. His remarks touched this year’s theme, “Kwanzaa and the Seven Principles: Sharing and Sustaining the World.”

            “The celebration of the 45^th anniversary of Kwanzaa is a significant marker and milestone in itself because of what it says about us as a people,” said Karenga. “It speaks to our profound commitment to self-determination – we did not ask permission for this holiday; to cultural reaffirmation and the celebration of ourselves; to our right and responsibility to speak our own special cultural truth in a multicultural world; and to the practice and promotion of Kwanzaa’s core principles, the Nguzo Saba, - the Seven Principles - the hub and hinge on which the holiday turns.”

            Karenga remind his audience that the observance was rooted in the Black liberation movement of the mid-1960s (Kwanzaa began in 1966) and born of a desire of self-identification and to speak a collective truth. The weeklong observance of Kwanzaa highlights each of the seven principles: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective Work and responsibility), Ujamaa (collective responsibility), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).

            Karenga connected Kwanzaa’s relevance to the current events, specifically the global environmental activism and the historic kinship of African culture with the earth as a site and source of sacredness.

            “This Kwanzaa comes with an increased concern for the well-being of the world because of the continuing injustice and oppression imposed on humans and the injury and injustice inflicted on the earth,” said Karenga.

He also quoted Pitt grad and 2004 Nobel Prize winner Dr. Wangari Mathaai (founder of the Green Belt Movement in Africa), saying, “Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, a shift that stops us from destroying the very basis of human life on the planet, and causes us to assist the earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal ourselves.”

Karenga suggests the Kwanzaa principles offer a solution. “Here the Nguzo Saba are again posed as a vital and valuable way to walk, work and struggle in the world for the well-being, wholeness and flourishing of ourselves and the world. And their central and summary message is walk gently, act justly and relate rightly in and for the world.”

Karenga then gave a shout out to August Wilson, citing the incorporation of Kawaida Theory, a pan-Africanist philosophy of reconnect to African heritage as a means of political sovereignty and economic empowerment in a keynote speech Wilson gave in 1996 encouraging Black artists to claim the power of their own cultural identity and to establish permanent institutions that celebrate and preserve Black artistic achievement, and also acknowledged the presence of Wilson contemporary Rob Penny’s widow in the audience.  

New Media Academy changes the game by shaping the future

(Originally published December 20, 2011)

by C. Denise Johnson

For New Pittsburgh Courier

     Contrary to what you may have heard or read, there is hope among young Black males, and that hope was more than palpable last Thursday during the New Media Academy celebration at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. The event was the culmination of six months of intense examination of the way media and culture impacts the lives of youth and how to become media savvy.

      Jasiri X and Paradise Gray of 1Hood, founders of the academy, say that in addition to developing critical thinking skills, other goals include teaching the young men how to create, market, and shape world perception of themselves. The participating youth will be taken through the process of cultivating their voice via various forms of media. The academy was fund through a grant from the Heinz Endowment.

     The specific focus, though not limited to, is to educate the participant in the nuances of the culture of today’s media, as well as, to enhance their focus on education and personal accountability in today’s world.  “This alternative education program serves a dual purpose of equipping the communities youth with the proper tools for self-expression as well as occupying their time with positive influences with a specific goal oriented agendas.”

     The young men met twice a week after school at the August Wilson Center where each student had access to laptop computers for research and editing their work. Their field work included attending the observing professional Black journalists at work during the Frank Bolden Urban Journalism Workshop, a trip to the Andy Warhol Museum and the Occupy Pittsburgh encampment.

     A number of current events during the course of the academy presented opportunities to students to discuss mainstream media coverage as well as have a hand in producing videos now available on YouTube including “I Am Troy Davis (T.R.O.Y.)” and video commentary on Jordan Miles.

     The culminating event at the August Wilson Center was more commencement than graduation as the six young men (ranging from 14 to 18) who completed the program shared their thoughts on what they’ve learned.

      “We have to create new media to change the image,” said Romie Yates of Wilkinsburg. “We’re not that stereotype. We have to stop feeding into that stereotype. We have to make music that is not disrespectful to women and to ourselves.”

     Hakim George, a student at Pittsburgh Science and Technology said, “We should not have to announce our movements in advance if we have an encounter with the police.”

     Gabriel Warren of Woodland Hill, an aspiring blogger, added “Being Black has a negative connotation, but Black does not equal ghetto.”

     After receiving their certificates, the students (who later performed as the New Media Allstars) joined the racially-diverse audience to hear from some of hip-hop’s more conscious pioneers as Jasiri X and Kimberly (Dr. Goddess) Ellis moderated a panel discussion entitled, "Taking Control of Our Image", which included Hip-Hop journalist Davey D, Wise Intelligent of the legendary rap group Poor Righteous Teachers, renown author and educator Bakari Kitwana, journalist and social media expert Jesse Muhammad, co-founder of Occupy the Hood Malik Rhasaan and Grammy Award-winning Hip-Hop artist Che "Rhymefest" Smith.

     Smith, who collaborated with Kanye West on “Jesus Walks,” discussed how mainstream journalists’ attempt to manipulate his Chicago city council campaign by focusing on his past backfired and resulted in providing him with media exposure he could afford to buy.

     The panel touched a wide range of issues including the use of social media. “Part of the problem is the mainstream tries to dumb us down,” said Kitwana. “(Black folks) have been high tech more than twenty years out of necessity. Texting was being done on pagers because we didn’t have access to PCs and phone.”

     Following the panel the evening was capped by a freestyle performance featuring the old school and the new school of conscious hip-hop.

      "I had an absolute wonderful time," said Brandi Fisher. "The panel was informed and communicated well to the audience. It was refreshing to be in the presence of such intelligence and wisdom and for there to be a platform for the young people to hear it."