Friday, Aug 6: Harlem's Mart 125, film @ Maysles Cinema

HARLEM HOMEGROWN

Films made for Harlem, by Harlem

Harlem's Mart 125: The American Dream
Dir. Rachelle Salnave, 2010, 75 min.

Mart 125, formerly located in the heart of Harlem was an indoor market place that housed African vendors from all over the Diaspora. It was developed by government agencies to remove street vendors in the mid-1980s. Due to a host of politics, poor management and the redevelopment of Harlem, the Mart was forced to close down in 2002. The building is now up for biding and the vendors have either been fortunate enough to get their own store fronts in Harlem or are back to vending on the streets. Harlem's Mart 125: The American Dream is an in-depth analysis of the history of Mart 125 and how it correlates to the "revitalization" of 125th street, Harlem's main commercial hub. This story depicts the economic transition from the late 1960s to present day. By using Mart 125 and the people behind it, the market provides an apt metaphor for the effects of gentrification on the Harlem community and urban centers everywhere.

AFTER THE FILM:
Panel discussion with Loren Schoenberg, Executive Director of the National Jazz Museum Harlem, Gregory Gates and Moikgantsi Kama, Founders of Imagenation (two organizations that won the bid to redevelop the Mart 125 space) and filmmaker, Rachelle Salnave. More speakers to be announced.

Friday Aug. 6 7:30 pm

Info: Maysles Cinema

Aug 4-19: SEED play at the Classical Theatre of Harlem

Project Classic's Inaugural Production: SEED by Radha Blank

"Burnt-out social worker Anne Simpson wants to retire on a high note, when a gifted nine-year-old, Chee-Chee, from the last “projects” in Anne’s gentrified Harlem neighborhood, collides into her life and forces her to confront the shadows of her past. Much to his mother Latonya’s chagrin, Chee-Chee and Anne develop an unconventional friendship, leading to an explosive encounter that threatens Chee-Chee’s future. This compelling new play asks us to confront the class and cultural divides in New York’s most prominent black community."

August 04 - 19th at The Harlem School of the Arts
645 St. Nicholas Ave.
New York, NY 10031
A,B,C,D to 145th St. walk south

General Admission
Adult $40.00
Senior $25.00
Student (w/ valid ID) $20.00

Tonight! Film: I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Tribute to James Baldwin

Monday August 2nd, 2010 7:30 PM

Visual Liberation Film Festival

Co-sponsor: Red Channels

I Heard It Through the Grapevine

An Event Marking the 86th Anniversary of James Baldwin's Birth

Alexis Birdsong, Farah Jasmine Griffin & Ajamu Sankofa. Moderated by Rich Blint

Dick Fontanie | 85 min | 1982 | USA

This striking documentary charting the post-civil rights return of James Baldwin to cities of struggle in the South begins with a central question posed by the author: “What has happened to those people? What happened to this country? And what does this mean for the world?” Over the course of the film, Baldwin and the leaders he meets with (Sterling Brown, Hoyt Fuller, Amiri Baraka, Chinua Achebe, and others) offer preliminary answers to these questions with great resonance for our time.

Sliding scale: $6/$10/$15

Info: Brecht Forum

July 31 - Sept 30: Eyewitness: Beautiful Black Brooklyn Exhibition at Skylight Gallery

"Through the work of six extraordinary Black Brooklyn photographers, the Skylight Gallery will examine the tumultuous intersection of the civil rights and cultural movements of the late 1960 s in Central Brooklyn. Eyewitness will feature the works of award-winning Brooklyn artists Larry Brown, Marilyn Nance, Beuford Smith, Randy Waterman, and Leroy Henderson. The artists, as eyewitnesses, have captured events, such as the 'Drummer's Grove' in Prospect Park and the 'Middle Passage Celebration' at Coney Island, and people, such as Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Nelson Mandela, and Jacob Lawrence."

Presented by Restoration's Center for Arts Culture
Contact: 718-636-6949 / mamitdart@gmail.com
Click here for more info

WHEN: July 31-September 30, 10am-6pm (Tuesday-Saturday)
WHERE: Skylight Gallery
1368 Fulton Street, 3rd Floor

Info: Brooklyn Arts Council

Monday, July 26: Urban Word NYC & John Jay College present AMIRI BARAKA @ John Jay College

"Poet, playwright, activist AMIRI BARAKA joins us for a free reading and lecture at John Jay College. Don't miss this opportunity to hear the poetry legend talk about the impact of hip-hop on social justice and read some of his most important poems. Special performance by Urban Word NYC youth."



Monday, July 26, 2010
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

John Jay College
North Hall
Multi-Purpose Room
445 59th Street
(Corner of 59th Street & 10th Avenue)"

Info: Urban Word NYC

Ongoing Exhibit and Saturday Artist Talk: Ain’t I A Woman @ MoCADA

Ain’t I A Woman

Curated by Kimberli Gant – MoCADA Director of Exhibitions
July 15 – December 19, 2010

"This group exhibition offers contemporary artistic depictions of women of African descent, focusing specifically on their interiority. Rather than examining women through the objectivity of their bodies, the artists portray African Diasporan women as active participants in their own visual representations. Ain’t I A Woman features works in painting, video, installation and mixed media by damali abrams, Eric Alugas, Kimberly Becoat, Priscila De Carvalho, Andrea Chung, Elizabeth Colomba, William Mwazi, Kenya (Robinson), Phoenix Savage and Francis Simeni.

Taking its title from the 1885 speech given by orator and activist Sojourner Truth, this exhibition attempts to move the conversation toward the intellectual, emotional and spiritual components in the lives of women of African descent. In addition, each featured artist is paired with an African female poet, selected from The Heinemann Book of African Women’s Poetry, who uses their literary works as inspiration."

Artist Talk: Saturday, July 17 @ 2:00pm

Info: MoCADA

Saturday, July 17: Brooklyn Transformations (Outdoor Film Screening) in Fort Greene Park

"An outdoor screening of shorts by Brooklyn filmmakers, with many that focus on issues affecting Black Brooklyn and African-Americans. Fiction and documentary films explore dying industries, gentrification and immigration. Films include “No Ward” by Terence Nance and “Monroe St.” by Durier Ryan."

FREE!

Presented by Rooftop Films in cooperation with BAC’s Scene: Brooklyn program.

WHEN: Saturday, July 17, 8:00pm: Doors; 8:30pm: Films
WHERE: Fort Greene Park, Southwest Lawn
Enter at North Portland & Myrtle Ave.

Brooklyn Arts Council

Saturday and Sunday, July 17-18: Know Your Rights Workshop pt 1 @ Maysles Institute

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS - TWO DAY WORKSHOP

Know what to do if a police officer stops you on the street? Know what to do if a police vehicle pulls you over while driving?

Know Your Rights!
Come & learn with original Black Panthers, Young Lords, Black Spades, Zulus, Combat Veterans, Martial Arts Experts, Cop Watch Soldiers & Activist Attorney's At War!

- See & Discuss: Anti-Police terror films / handouts.
- Get self defense training & weapon disarming tactics.
- Learn what to do in case of arrest, in jail, in court, and more about your legal rights.
- Participate in street, vehicle & home role-play
- Free food, refreshments & materials for youth.

More information and reservations contact Bro. Shep:
panthershepcat@aol.com or (212) 650-5008"

Saturday July 17th and July 18
1:00pm - 4:00pm SHARP!

Free For All Youth (aged 13-23)
$10.00 Suggested Donation For Adults (No one turned away for the lack of funds)

Info: MAYSLES INSTITUTE

Wednesday, July 14: Reel Harlem Film Festival: Nina Simone Tribute - Marcus Garvey Park

Reel Harlem Film Festival: Nina Simone Great Performances (Free!)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010
7:00 p.m.–9:30 p.m.
Venue: Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan
Rain Venue: Inside the Pelham Fritz Recreation Center

Music: The National Jazz Museum All-Stars' Tribute to Nina Simone (7:00 p.m.)

Film: Nina Simone Great Performances: College Concerts and Interviews (8:30 p.m.) (Andy Stroud, USA, 60 mins.)
A rare film of this radical artist in performance and in interviews where she shares her opinions on the role of the artist and race relations.

Info: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

Tuesday, July 7: Chillin On Da Corner & Beyond Film Screening and Health Fair in Bed-Stuy

JULY 6th

"Next feature for Chillin On Da Corner & Beyond Fest
Screening @ sundown! WORLD PREMIERE of WhiteBoy Brown and two short docs: “Hip Hop Gurlz” & “Round Table #1""


Health Fair from 2pm-5pm Called “HEALTH OF JULY”"

Stockton Playground Park Ave btw Marcy & Tompkins Ave in BedStuy

Info: Chillin On Da Corner & Beyond

Monday, July 5: Miracle at St. Anna @ BAM

Miracle at St. Anna
Part of the BAMcinématek series Contraband Cinema


Mon, Jul 5 at 4:30pm
Directed by Spike Lee
With Laz Alonso, Derek Luke, Omar Benson Miller
(2008) 160min

"Lee overturns decades of Hollywood whitewashing to tell the story of the US Army’s all African-American Buffalo Soldier unit stranded in Tuscany during World War II. Featuring some of the most remarkable battle sequences in recent memory and Lee's signature, bold directorial touches, Miracle at St. Anna is an urgent corrective to a Hollywood that has long ignored the vital contributions made by black soldiers during World War II."

BAM Rose Cinemas
General Admission: $12
BAM Cinema Club members: $8

Info: BAM

Monday, July 5: She’s Gotta Have It @ BAM

She’s Gotta Have It
Part of the BAMcinématek series Contraband Cinema


Mon, Jul 5 at 2*, 8pm
*Intro by and discussion with curator Kazembe Balagun and writer/poet Anika Lani Haynes

Directed by Spike Lee
With Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks
(1986) 84min

"Lee’s fearless feature debut (shot largely in Fort Greene) took the world by storm by appropriating the indie sex comedy, à la Woody Allen, to address black sexuality. Nola Darling (Johns) is a sexually-liberated Brooklynite contending with the advances of three less than perfect suitors while struggling to maintain her independence. One of the watershed independent films of the 1980s, She’s Gotta Have It was radical for its concern with a demographic hitherto under-represented on-screen: the cosmopolitan, black female. 'A groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color as intelligent, upscale urbanites' (New York Times)."

BAM Rose Cinemas
General Admission: $12
BAM Cinema Club members: $8

Info: BAM

Thurs July 1 and Sun July 4: Black Panthers (in Israel) Speak + Jerusalem Tapes: (Israeli) Black Panthers on the Street @ BAM

"Black Panthers (in Israel) Speak + Jerusalem Tapes: (Israeli) Black Panthers on the Street
Part of the BAMcinématek series Contraband Cinema

Thu, Jul 1 at 4:30pm
Sun, Jul 4 at 2pm

Black Panthers (in Israel) Speak
Directed by Eli Hamo & Sami Shalom Chetrit
(2002) 55min

With Jerusalem Tapes: (Israeli) Black Panthers on the Street
Directed by David Cort/Videofreex
34min

"The footage in these films reveals the mostly unknown story of an Israeli political consciousness that tried to align itself with the 1970s civil rights struggle in the US and third world Marxism internationally."

BAM Rose Cinemas
General Admission: $12
BAM Cinema Club members: $8

Info: BAM

Wednesday, June 30 and Sun July 4: Eldridge Cleaver Film and Q + A @ BAM

"Eldridge Cleaver"
Part of the BAMcinématek series Contraband Cinema


Wed, Jun 30 at 4:30pm
There will be an encore screening of Eldridge Cleaver on July 4 at 7:15pm featuring a Q&A with Kathleen Cleaver.

Directed by William Klein
(1969) 75min

"Under pressure from FBI's counterintelligence program, Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver and his wife Kathleen left the United States for Algeria. There, he set up the International Section of the Black Panther Party which quickly became the hangout of revolutionaries from the Vietnamese and African liberation movements. Klein's moving interview follows up with Cleaver during the Pan-African Cultural Festival in Algiers, where he expounds upon the Vietnam War and Black Power during a time when 'revolution was the main theme of the day.'"

BAM Rose Cinemas
General Admission: $12
BAM Cinema Club members: $8"

Info: BAM

Wednesday, June 30: Making Peace: The Black Beauty Battleground @ The Brecht Forum

Making Peace: The Black Beauty Battleground

Panel with: Esther Armah , Joan Morgan,Michael angela Davis, Akiba Solomon
Performance by: Latasha N Nevada Diggs -
Monologue by: Angela S Arnold - Actress & Singer

"Black beauty can be a battleground, a complicated power. On the small screen, the big screen, in print, media images reject millions, create a weapon used to select, reject, hurt, provoke. Home & school is often where the trauma starts. Black beauty = privilege & conflict; power & pain. Light skin vs dark? Time to tell untold truths, unspoken realities. Who owns the power & pain of turning beauty into a battleground? How do you halt a cycle of assault on black women’s beauty? Why does one woman’s beauty = another’s burden? How do we make peace with our beauty & bodies?"

This panel is the second of Esther Armah’s New Monthly Live Interactive Emotional Justice Conversation Series: ‘Afrolicious’

Wednesday June 30th, 2010 7:00 PM
Entrance: $10
Info: The Brecht Forum

Monday, June 21: Love, Race and Liberation @ Bluestockings

Monday, June 21st @ 7PM - $5 Suggested
Presentation: Calderon & Hall “Love, Race, and Liberation”

"Join Jlove Calderon and Marcella Runell Hall for a presentation of the multimedia project “‘Til the White Day is Done” and of “Love, Race, and Liberation,” a curriculum guide on white privilege in America. Join them in a nuanced discussion about whiteness, privilege, and working toward social and racial justice now."

Info: Bluestockings

Sat, June 19: Juneteenth Celebration at 227 Abolitionist Place

"The Abolitionist Museum hosts an annual Juneteenth Celebration, recognizing the June 19th Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which gave African-American slaves their freedom. The evening of celebration at this historic site, where abolitionists once lived and hid African-Americans, features Shawné Lee’s spiritual healing performance; Indoda Entsha, West African drumming group directed by E. Preston Riddick; and Michael Hooper of Roots Revisited. Great food, too!"

$10 (includes food). Purchase tickets at door.

Presented by Friends of 227 Abolitionist Place with support from BAC.

Contact: 227abolitionistplace.org

WHEN: Saturday, June 19, 8 pm–midnight (Rain date: June 20)
WHERE: 227 Duffield St. (Downtown Brooklyn)

Info: Brooklyn Arts Council

Reminder! Free June Summer Shows

*Just a reminder for upcoming City Parks sponsored shows! *

SummerStage Music: Big Daddy Kane with DJ Jon Quick
When: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 7:00PM
Where: Herbert Von King Park, Brooklyn
Big Daddy Kane’s baritone voice and rapid-fire rap style has secured him a place as one of hip hop’s most influential, successful and lasting MCs.

SummerStage Theater: The Etymology Of Bird by Zakiyyah Alexander, Directed by Jade King-Carroll
When: Friday-Saturday, June 18-19, 2010 at 8:00PM
Where: Betsy Head Memorial Playground, Brooklyn
The Etymology of Bird delves into the Brooklyn, NY and explores questions on race relations, criminal justice, family life, love, fear, stereotypes, and hard choices seen through the eyes of various people.

SummerStage Music: NYC Pride Rally featuring Me’Shell Ndegéocello , Martha Wash, The New York Gay Men’s Chorus, Vickie Shaw, Billie Myers, Bruce Vilanch and more
When: Saturday, June 19, 2010 at 4:00PMWhere: Central Park/MainstageStrength, virtuosity and joyous revelry reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the lineup of this incredible evening’s entertainment.

SummerStage Music: Fecircte De La Musique / Make Music NY Celebration: Salif Keita, Tabou Combo, Lo’Jo
When: Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 3:00PM
Where: Central Park/Mainstage
Iconic innovators from Mali and Haiti set the standards for global celebratory music, and are joined by the next generation of international visionaries.

Info: NYC What's Poppin'?: Summer Shows

Saturday, June 19: Film and Panel: Gentrifying Brooklyn – The Buying, Selling, and Repackaging of Crown Heights

Gentrifying Brooklyn – The Buying, Selling, and Repackaging of Crown Heights"

Gentrifying Brooklyn is a poignant and personal look at a community in the midst of gentrification.

When a neighborhood is renamed to attract more affluent buyers, what is the community response? In Crown Heights Brooklyn, while many long time residents take pride in their neighborhood’s identity, others are unabashedly repackaging its name, borders, and identity to attract more affluent residents.

Who’s entitled to the neighborhood? A film by Abeni Garrett and Laurel Brown."

A rough cut of an excerpt of the film will be screening at Five Myles on Saturday, June 19th at 7:00 p.m. The filmmakers will then open up the floor for their opinions about the film and the topic more generally.

Info: Nostrand Park

Friday June 18: Film Screening: Race: The Power Of An Illusion @

"The division of the world’s peoples into distinct groups — “red,” “black,” “white” or “yellow” peoples — has became so deeply embedded in our psyches, so widely accepted, many would promptly dismiss as crazy any suggestion of its falsity. Yet, that’s exactly what this provocative, three-hour series by California Newsreel claims. Race: The Power of an Illusion questions the very idea of race as biology, suggesting that a belief in race is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth. It looks at several scientific discoveries that illustrate why humans cannot be subdivided into races and how there isn’t a single characteristic, trait – or even one gene – that can be used to distinguish all members of one race from all members of another."

June 18, 2010 from 7pm to 10pm – Casa Frela Gallery

Info: Around-NYC.com