The Black Power Mixtape 1967 – 1975: A Review

I started my schooling at an Afro-centric elementary school in Boston and  finished by earning a bachelor’s degree at Howard University. While I am no  black history expert, I have a spent a fair amount learning about the usual  facts and figures presented about African-American history makers. While grainy  pictures of Martin Luther King Jr’s march on Washington, Marion Anderson singing  at the Lincoln Memorial and Harriet Tubman posing for the camera are all  powerful and important images, we as a nation have come to rely on them too much  as a short cut to quickly cover some of the more poignant and painful aspects of  our past. Their over usage often make my eyes glass over.

How refreshing to watch the documentary “The Black Power Mixtape 1967 –  1975,” which takes a look that the civil rights movement from the eyes of a  group of Swedish news journalists. Seems random. I could belabor the strangeness  of such eye-opening material on my community coming from Sweden, but that  doesn’t really matter. Nor is the exact reason why these journalists descended  on America pertinent. What is important is that they were touched by the  inequities of the everyday lives of everyday Americans; that they documented it;  and shared it. During the course of almost 10 years, they covered the marches,  speeches, and court trials of civil rights activists in order to shed light on  the plight and successes of the black community.

I was amazed at the amount of footage that I had never seen of some civil  rights icons. The clips of Stokley Carmichael interviewing his mother introduced  me to the softer side of his humanity and helped round him out as a person. From  her jail cell, Angela Davis bristles when a reporter asks her about the use of  violence in a freedom movement when violence was used to kill her neighbors, the  girls that were fire bombed in Birmingham, Alabama. “You ask me if I approve of  violence? I just find it incredible.” I can see her frustration from years of  struggle tempered with a fierce intellect as she tries to explain basic human  behavior. The footage of Black Panther leaders, schools and soup kitchens;  Herbert Hoover quotes; the backlash of the American media all brought home the  civil rights era from a fresh perspective that made me sit up and take  notice.

The approach of the production of “The Black Power Mixtape” was also  refreshing. Instead of traditional narration, the directors use audio interviews  from today’s well-know voices of black consciousness to give context to the  images on the screen. Sometimes the interviews were directly about the video  presented but there were also commentaries and remembrances. Erika Badu, Angela  Davis, QwestLove and Harry Belafonte did not recite from history books but  recounted the history from very personal and very thoughtful perspectives. Talib  Kweli says “What you don’t realize about these people is that none of these  people are evil or bad or even extra violent. It’s just to them common sense  meant that they had to speak and stand up for themselves. And it shows you the  power of those words – that they resonate even today.”

“The Black Power Mixtape” brought out the strength and pride of the black  community during those turbulent times. If it had been a fictional tale, it  would have ended with all Americans moving forward together to create a better  nation and a better world. Instead it ended with drugs thrust into black  communities, with families being disrupted and dreams being squashed. And it  also left us with the unasked question, what do we do now?

A Review of Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

I am a sucker for performance documentaries. There is always the music, art or comedy to lean on if the style or structure is otherwise weak. However, that was not the case with “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest.” The story telling in this documentary about the legendary rap group was well crafted, visually interesting and insightful. And, the music made me run to download songs from iTunes as soon as the film was over.

I don’t pretend to be a rap music aficionado but I did enjoy listening, dancing and rapping along with A Tribe Called Quest songs in my young adult days. I still do. So learning about how members Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad got together, made music and fell apart was all new and fascinating to me. That there was a fourth member, Jarobi White, was a total revelation. To see Q-Tip’s thoughtfulness and genius of production is creatively inspiring. Just the way he rifles through record bins at the speed of light lets you know a little bit about depth of his
relationship with music.

“Beats, Rhymes & Lif”e was not just a nostalgic “Behind The Music” style piece honoring A Tribe Called Quest’s music. During filming, the group members were living through major struggles. Q-Tip and Phife were not on speaking terms, locked in a stalemate of hurt feelings that only brothers can cause. Ali was stuck in the middle while other rap greats such as De La Soul members were disappointed to see their musical compadres’ behavior of not living up to essence behind their songs. Phife was also awaiting a kidney transplant due to his long struggle with diabetes. In both cases, I found myself rooting for positive outcomes and was never sure if it would come before the final credits.

A long list of rap industry icons gave interviews to help shed light on why A Tribe Called Quest was so successful. They included Monie Love, Pharrell Williams, The Roots and The Beastie Boys. Director Michael Rapaport could be heard from time to time asking questions. I would have liked to hear more about the personal lives of Q-Tip and Ali like we did for Phife and Jarobi. It seemed slightly unbalanced in favor of the Phife camp.

Despite the trials and tribulations of the group, “Beats, Rhymes & Life” was a fun documentary with a great soundtrack. As some of the interviewees in this documentary point out, when rap music was turning the corner from party music to anger, A Tribe Called Quest walked a line in between. The stance of being proud of who they are and where they’re from but not letting it define them is a universal theme that still resonates today.

For other reviews, visit the Reviews category.

“Just Like Us” – A Review

It turns out that everyone likes to laugh – even in the Arab world.  Egyptian-American comic Ahmed Ahmed has been working as a successful stand-up comedian for many years.  When I interviewed him 10-years ago, he talked about having a dream to bring comedy to the Middle East as a way to open hearts and minds.  10 years may seem like a long time to realize a dream but the documentary “Just Like Us” following Ahmed’s comedy review tour of  Dubai, Lebanon, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Egypt shows that it was well worth the wait.

Although “Just Like Us”  is Ahmed Ahmed journey to help bring Western style stand-up to a new part of the world, he is joined by a merry band of ethnically diverse comedians who, for the most part, are not sure what to expect from their sold out audiences.  Ahmed, who had been banned from Dubai a year before for making religious jokes, does not keep his fellow comedians on a short leash.  When Omid Djalili slips into making dick jokes and Whitney Cummings talks about men’s balls, they both sheepishly apologize  back stage.  Ahmed reassures them that the crowd loved it and that if they are banned, they are in good company.

The journey is peppered with man-on-the -street interviews in America – many of whom wonder if American comedy will translate in the Middle East.  Some of the comics wondered the same thing as did I.  But when Tommy Davidson jokes about African-American leaders and Angelo Tsarouchas talks about his Greek upbringing in Canada, you begin to realize that comedy, much like music, has few boundaries.

It takes guts to be a stand-up comedian.  But it takes balls to crack jokes to a crowd in Saudi Arabia knowing that the culture police may crack down on you at any time.  And it takes heart to bring local comedians to the stage in order to help them get a start in a career that many people in their countries have never heard of.  “What, you want to be a clown?”

In between the laughs are poignant moments that were captured, effectively, to highlight our shared humanity.  A Female comic from Egypt talks about telling her grandchildren about performing with Ahmed and Maz Jobrani. Ahmed’s uncle hugs him goodbye as if he can’t bear to let him go.  Ahmed brings the film full circle by stopping in New York where he meets an out-of-work Egyptian trying to give his family a better life.  After the show, Ahmed tells the man how much he reminds Ahmed of his own father who moved to Los Angeles. He tells the man to keep it up; it will all work out.  My eyes welled up – the last thing that I would expect from a comedy documentary.

Ahmed Ahmed is not the only American comic to do stand up in the Middle East. Nor is this his first Middle Eastern tour.  In the past, has brought Arab and Jewish comedians together on stage both in the States and in the Middle East.  In that way, one can view Ahmed as a sort of global activist.  Even with it’s kumbaya and softer moments, it must be said that the comedy is funny in “Just Like Us.”  And, the message was on point.  The shooting was a little bit more rough than I would have liked.  I am not one who subscribes to the idea that a gritty look adds to an edgy feel.  But the movie left me wanting more in a good way.  Did any of the comedians get banned from Dubai?  Has the out-of-work Dad found work? I also wonder if this tour would have been possible had it been shot after the Arab Spring.  Are people in the countries rocked by the struggle for freedom in the mood to sit down and laugh? If they can’t now, I sure hope they will be to soon.

For other reviews, visit the Reviews category.

Phillip – the Perfect Survivor Character

Phillip Sheppard, a cast member of Survivor: Redemption Island, was absolutely made for reality television.  Let’s face it, by now, we can all identify the casting slots filled on reality shows: the schemer, the hunk, the bi^&%, the black bi^$%, the mother, the outsider and the wild card.  The wild card is the character that doesn’t fit into any other conceivable category.  Usually they are a little socially awkward, a little brash and a little zany.  Phillip is a whole lot of all of these things and more. At the beginning of the season, Phillip seemed to be so disruptive and uncontrollable that I figured  he’d be kicked off immediately.  My husband and I hoped he’d stay awhile just to keep the show interesting and he has. 

Phillip claims to be a special agent (which he reminds players constantly) but doesn’t project the wherewithal to seem to be able to do such a job.  He says he is stealth but then blurts out everything he is thinking during tribal council.  Just to hear him give dissertations on whatever comes to mind makes me laugh. For example, he has a tatoo of a lion on one arm to represent the ferocity of his ire if you mess with his family.  The gorilla on the other arm represents the attitude he will take if you mess with his country.  He says, “Hell hath no fury like a lion and a gorilla when he thinks he is being provoked.”  With a bird feathers attached to his head, he shared the message of victory given to him from his ancestors.  He walks around in tidy-pinkies that gross out his fellow players.  Phillis is what we call in my house “special.”  And just when you think he can’t get any crazier, he announces that he is playing the crazy card to further himself in the game.  Perhaps there is some method to his madness.

I’m glad Phillip has lasted as long as he has.  His particular brand of nuttiness is refreshing even for reality television. I do wonder, as he watches the episodes at home, if he is hurt by how he is being portrayed.  Then again, he has given the producers a lot to work with.   Despite his silliness, there is an air of mystery about him.  Was he really a special agent?  The producers have cleverly  added a “?” to his on-camera title.  Is he really a fool or just playing the part?  Maybe the truth will be revealed in time. Maybe not. Either way, I’m enjoying the show.

Survivor host Jeff Probst, didn’t give Phillip much hope in the beginning.  Check out Jeff’s predictions here.

Here from Phillip himself in his pre-taping interview here. 

For more reviews, visit the Documentary and Television Reviews category.

Singing Praises for Unsung

TV One’s “Unsung” is one of my favorite biography shows on television.  Each show takes us into the lives of musical artists and acts through narration, interviews, performance footage and photos.  Television doesn’t get more basic than that. Yet, Unsung has managed to focus an interesting light on singers, groups and bands that have made important contributions to the music industry. 

Fittingly, Al B Sure was the voice over talent for the first season.  He did surprisingly well.  The new, lesser known narrator is just as good and doesn’t get in the way of the story telling.

Many of the episodes have provided fodder for water cooler conversations in the African American community.  When the Debarge story aired from the first season, even national radio hosts like Tom Joyner talked about it.  We all know the Debarge music and something about the drug abuse in the family. But how many of us know about the abusive father or El Debarge’s efforts to make the group a success while the rest of his siblings were out partying?

For me, the most touching episode was the one about Donny Hathaway.  He has one of the purest voices of all time. But his struggles with depression ultimately drove away his family and claimed his life.  To hear industry experts explain the depth of his genius made me appreciate his music even more.  Listening to family and friends talk about his declining mental health was hard to watch.  It is amazing to think about how little was known about depression at the time.

The Heatwave story was the most insightful.  I knew nothing about this group yet love some of their classic hits like “Always and Forever” and “Grooveline.”  This particular episode shed light on the groups international players, their unusually strict code of ethics and the success of keyboardist and writer Rod Temperton who went on to produce some of Michael Jackson’s biggest hits. 

Other profiles have included Tammy Terrell, Tenna Marie, The Fat Boys, Miki Howard and the O’Jays.  The upcoming season promises the likes of The Spinners, Big Daddy Kane and Evelyn “Champagne” King.  Many of the “Unsung” artists have never been profiled on television. But when I see them, I am moved to get up and dance or go running to download my favorite songs.

I’m looking forward the batch of shows.  My DVR is already set.  “Unsung” gives me the information I want without all of the flash and whistles.  But most of all, it gives me a deeper understanding and appreciation for the music that has become the soundtrack of my life.

 For more reviews, visit the Docmentary and TV Reviews category.

Waiting For Superman – A review

Our American school system is broken and has been for a long time.  It’s been that way for so long that so many of us have gotten used to it and have stopped looking for solutions.  Do workable solutions even exist? 

Waiting For Superman is a documentary that puts five faces on the issue of public education as it follows five students in Washington DC, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco who are all striving for academic achievement despite school and school system apathy.  As a mother of a kindergartener and a Washington, DC area resident, this film was particularly timely for me.  I was already familiar with some of the educational giants that served as the films experts.  Former DC School Chancellor Michelle Rhee was in the local news almost daily as she tried to overhaul the DC public schools. Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, has received many national awards.  The KIPP Schools have been cited in numerous books and articles.  But somehow seeing how bad schools affect individual children really broke my heart.

The five children profiled in Waiting For Superman each had parents and guardians that were invested in their academic futures.  Their kids were not being served by their current schools and they had identified magnet or charter schools that would offer their children better educational opportunities.  The film did a good job of allowing the viewer to get to know and care about the students.  Each student’s story culminated with a school lottery drawing where names were pulled from a hat or plucked from a bingo basket.  The lucky winners gained entry into the much sought after schools.  The odds for winning a spot were in themselves depressing – 10 out of 135, 110 out of 455, and 35 out of 767.  I held my breath while watching the families wait to hear if their name or number was called.

 This film is part documentary and part essay.  It doesn’t really follow action as it unfolds but rather presents interviews and cartoon graphics to make a specific point.  There is nothing wrong with making a point and Waiting For Superman is not so heavy handed as to give the feeling of forcing an agenda. 

What Waiting For Superman didn’t address was parental involvement.  The movie points out many disturbing facts about the failure of our schools and school systems.  For example, most teachers are tenured regardless of their ability to teach and can’t be fired.  Most students are placed on an academic track that they rarely break out of.  However, while good schools and teachers have a tremendous impact on how much a child learns, it is the partnership between schools and parents that give the kids the best chance possible of academic success. The children highlighted in this film were going through such heart wrenching school lottery experiences precisely because someone at home cared enough to make sure those kids got the very best their school systems have to offer.  But what if no one at home cared?

I am always excited when documentary films that present a problem also give tangible steps toward change.  In this case, Waiting For Superman explored why some model public schools are successfully teaching our children while others are not.  The website has lots of helpful steps and links that anyone interested can easily follow as well as additional information about the film.  I suggest that you visit it even if you don’t watch the film: http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/synopsis.

I am lucky that I live in a time and place where my kids will feed into a very good elementary school.  Waiting for Superman has pointed out that all kids should have this opportunity and that there, but for the grace of God, go I.

Review: The Two Escobars

A not-so-funny joke is repeated every World Cup season since 1994 about players who made mistakes during games by people who only read sports headlines.  “That guy better be careful. He might go home and get killed.”  The people making this joke don’t know who it was that was murdered (Andrés Escobar) or what country he was from (Colombia).  They were questions that I, myself,  kept forgetting to ask.

A relative new comer to international soccer competitions, I recently asked my husband “whatever happened to the Colombian national team?”  I remember footage of their bright uniforms, colorful play and wild hair.  My questions were soon answered by the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary called The Two Escobars directed by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist.

The Two Escobars follows the rapid rise and demise of the Colombian national soccer team in the 80’s and 90’s through the lives of its hero – Andrés Escobar and its patron – Pablo Escobar.  This documentary has all the elements of classic story telling: complex characters, rags to riches stardom and good versus evil.  The interviews with former players, family members and politicians are compelling in both content and composition.  The archival footage is vast.  It almost seems as if the past footage was shot with the knowledge that this documentary would one day be produced.  Not once did I think “they don’t have anything to cover this with.”

Pablo Escobar is depicted as a modern day Robin Hood – a poor boy that made riches by becoming a drug lord but sharing his ill-begotten wealth with poor citizens from Colombia.  He reconstructed homes in a fire ravaged barrio and built soccer fields for neighborhoods and schools.  It was his sponsorship of one of the national teams that allowed them to jettisons them to the top ranks of world soccer.  While watching this film, I was rooting for him as much as I was rooting against him. 

Andrés Escobar was a member of that team.  He was uncomfortable with the drug connections but relished being a role model for young people.  He became the team captain and used his money and position to help at-risk youth.  At a time when Colombia was suffering from the highest murder rate in the world, he became a symbol of hope and achievement.  It was easy to root for Andrés.

When the demise of both Escobars unfolds, we understand why.  For Pablo, it wasn’t just the Colombian government with the help of the Americans that finally got the best of him.  He was killed by the only person who could kill him, a former friend and rival drug lord.  And it wasn’t just an angry fan that killed Andrés after his own-goal that knocked the Colombian team out of the world cup.  It was a thug from the same rival gang that killed Pablo – a thug with a mammoth machismo attitude and perhaps too much to drink. With the death of the two Escobars, Colombian soccer sunk back into oblivion even more quickly than it had risen.

In the end, The Two Escobars not only taught me about Colombian soccer and history but reminded me that there are at least three sides to every story, that good is not always all good and that evil is not always without morality. It is ultimately a sad story and supremely human.  Mostly, it pointed out that any death, but especially that of someone who held the hopes and dreams of his country, is just not good fodder for a joke.

Food Inc. – A Review

I watched Food Inc. in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to strike restrictions of corporate contribution to political campaigns.   Already feeling that the hand of corporate American had too much control on my personal life, I almost abandoned the film early and to let my husband finish watching it alone. I’m glad that I didn’t.

Food Inc. is a good example of a documentary that takes sides without ramming an agenda down the viewers’ throats.  It set out to show how the food industry is controlled by a small amount of corporations who have sacrificed nutrition, safety and ethics when it comes to animals, workers, products, consumers and environment.  Food Inc. refrained from using fringe examples to make an extreme point.  Instead, the producers were able to find several people with the same story to support a stance.  For example, there were several different chicken and soybean farmers to who were being squeezed by their one corporate client by sharecropping and mafia tactics.  “You want to sell chickens to us?  Then you must borrow money from us every year to make technical upgrades that you will never be able to pay off.”  The soybean farmers were routinely followed by undercover seed agents to make sure they were not “cleaning their own seeds.”

Food Inc. had its fair share of scary yet revealing moments.  I knew that live stock is often herded together in quarters that are inhumanely close.  But I was surprised to learn that cows are fed corn because it is cheap even though they can’t digest corn very well.   The results of undigested food can lead to E Coli.  The cows are fed corn because the crops are subsidized to such a low level that it costs pennies to feed the cows thereby allowing the beef corporations to make the biggest profits possible.  If you follow the trail of corn, it will take you to chicken breeding facilities, genetically modified foods and thug-like control over criticism of the industry and its products.  Remember the beef industry lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey?

An hour into the movie and I was feeling enlightened but was on my way to complete depression about the times in which we live.  That’s when Food Inc. threw me a glimmer of hope by way of the Stoneyfield Farm yogurt company.  I eat Stoneyfield.  I feed it to my kids.  What a relief to know that I have been supporting a company whose mandate it is to produce healthy food, ethically, that is good for the environment and is a capitalism success story. 

When the film ended, I was feeling that the very bumpy journey had been worth it.  I admit that I have a soft spot for socially conscious documentaries that invite the viewer to join the struggle with specific suggestions.  Food Inc. did not disappoint me.  After the images faded to black, a list of simple tips were offered.  Easy things like “read food labels” and “cook with your family” are simple but can have big affects on families as well as the food industry.  The next morning, my husband and I spent ten extra minutes in the grocery store attentively labels while conscientiously choosing our food.

Review: Capitalism – A Love Story

First let me say that I agree with Michael Moore’s general premise in his documentary Capitalism: A Love Story that corporate greed is out of hand and that average citizens are paying the price.  I think many people do.  What I was hoping to see was informative examples and enlightening arguments to support his point of view. 

What I got was a depressing visual essay in which Moore used loads of stock footage to illustrate his feelings.  That is not to say that there were no good points made or that the archival material wasn’t effective at times.  The best use of classic footage was the opening montage – a black and white reenactment about the fall of Rome intercut with recent American political figures.  But the old clips used to demonstrate the ideals of capitalism, the weaknesses of capitalism, the promise of the American dream, the failure of the American dream, and everything leading up to them was very heavy handed.  Perhaps Moore was trying to lighten the mood but instead gave the film a cartoon-like feel.

Moore is always strong when he hits the road in search of help for the common man.  Demanding money back from the banks with a burlap sack and attempting to make a citizen’s arrest of bank managers are funny reminders of how badly the banks have ripped off the people of this country.  There are also some salient examples of ripping off tactics.  Moore shared some now all too familiar touching stories of foreclosure victims duped by unethical mortgage loans.  And, I was surprised to learn that corporations take out million dollar life insurance policies on their workers.

The movie needed more interviews from the opposing side or people who used to work for the opposing side.  We all know what the problem is. But WHY do bigwigs think they are justified in hurting the little guy?

The movie ends with Moore inviting viewers to join him in putting a stop to capitalism and corporate greed.  He didn’t give examples in the film but you can find some on the Capitalism: A Love Story website.  Overall, the movie made good points but lacked depth.  It was terribly depressing yet slightly inspiring at the same time.  After paying to see the movie, I am left with this question: how much of my $9 goes to the mega-media giant Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Vantage who is one of the producers of this film?

Review: Good Hair

One questions: how can I keep my daughter off of the “creamy crack?”  Yes, I am referring to a perm or relaxer that turns afro hair into straight hair, (a la Whitney Houston and Oprah Winfrey).  Chris Rock posed a similar question as he set out to produce the documentary Good Hair.  In my post entitled Comedians and Docs, I touched on the issue of well known-funny guys producing funny documentaries.  In the case of Rock’s Good Hair, he did a good job using humor to tackle what has been a taboo topic in the black community.  He’s got us talking about our hair in a very open way.  I’m sure his appearance on Oprah was a big help.

Using the flamboyant, hyped up, super charged Bronner Brothers hair show in Atlanta as the through-line added a since of drama, educational moments and a fair share of surprises. But the movie raises some good points too: why do black women straighten their hair?  Why do the men who love them bankroll thousand-dollar weaves?  What is the chemical process for making relaxers?  And, where does all that hair come from to make a good weave?  The most pertinent point for me was that the industry of whitening black hair is a billion dollar industry with only four black manufacturers.  The industry is largely controlled by whites and Asians.  As Reverend Al Sharpton points out, giving that kind of money away is like volunteer slavery.

Good Hair had a couple of uncomfortable moments when Chris Rock played a buffoon for the benefit Asian shop keepers to draw out a point. But perhaps the ends justified the means.  I was disappointed at the lack of discussion about WHY so many people seek perms and weaves.  Is there a disconnect for black women to proudly love our lips and hips but not our hair?  Also, lot of my sisters with natural hair were disappointed that the movie did not discuss natural hair at length. But that’s not what the movie was about.  The movie was about getting “good hair.”

Kudos to Chris Rock for getting celebrities like Ice-T, Raven Symone and Nia Long to talk about this touchy subject.   Good Hair gets a thumbs up from me because as a black woman, I learned a lot about the black women’s hair care industry and had a couple of laughs to boot.  In the meantime, I’ll prepare myself for my daughter’s style and fashion decisions to be what they will. When do I start worrying about body piercing?