NYC Vigil to Remember SGL Activist David Kato (Thur, Feb. 3rd, 2011) David Kato's New York City Memorial Service (Mon, Feb. 7th, 2011)

On Thursday, February 3rd, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and other concerned organizations will hold a peaceful vigil near the Ugandan Mission to the United Nations in New York City to remember and honor David Kato’s life and his struggle for human rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Join us in mourning David and showing the Ugandan government that there must be no more violence and discrimination against LGBT Ugandans.

When: February 3, 2011 4:00 pm
Where: Location to be determined. Vigil will be followed by a procession to Uganda House – 336 E. 45th St.

(New York, February 1, 2011) US religious leaders have a moral responsibility to condemn and combat the murderous spread of homophobic hate in Uganda, said a coalition of thirty-five human rights organizations announcing a vigil in memory of slain Ugandan human rights activist David Kato. The candlelight vigil will be held at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza and followed by a silent procession to Uganda House, the Ugandan mission to the United Nations, on February 3 at 4 pm. (Co-sponsors are listed below.)

Kato, a prominent leader of the same gender loving movement in Uganda, was found murdered in his Kampala home on January 26. His photograph had been published in a Ugandan tabloid that called for hanging homosexual people; he had recently led a successful lawsuit forcing the publication to desist. The groups also voiced concern that homophobia may prevent Ugandan authorities from conducting a full and fair investigation of Kato’s murder.

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Stand In Solidarity with


Sexual Minorities Uganda
&
The Global Justice Institute

Please Join Us For
David Kato's
New York City Memorial Service

Monday, February 7th, 2011 @ 7:00PM
Abyssinian Baptist Church
132 Odell Clark Place
(West 138th Street
between Lenox Avenue & Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd)
Harlem, New York City

GOOGLE MAPS

HISTORIC HARLEM CHURCH TO HOLD SERVICE FOR UGANDAN SGL ADVOCATE

As same gender loving and transgender Ugandans and same-gender-loving faith leaders in the United States mourn the death of SGL leader David Kato, the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City is opening its doors to host a memorial service for Mr. Kato. The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III one of the leading African American ministers in the United States will preside over the service in a congregation known as the “cradle of the Black Church.”

Info: http://gaybygod.net/david-kato/


WHO: The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor Abyssinian Baptist Church

Pastor Joseph W. Tolton, pastor of Rehoboth Christ Consciousness

Pastor Michael Walrond Jr., pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church

Bishop Yvette Flunder, presiding bishop of The Fellowship

Frank Mugisha, president of Sexual Minorities Uganda

Charles Radcliffe, Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights


WHAT: Memorial Service and call for solidarity in remembrance of slain Ugandan SGL rights advocate, David Kato.

WHEN: Monday February 7, 2011. 7pm

WHERE: Abyssinian Baptist Church 132 Odell Clark Place, NY, NY (W 138th St)

For Directions: http://www.abyssinian.org/contact/contact/

WHY: On Wednesday January 26, 2011 David Kato, a Ugandan SGL rights advocate, was beaten to death in his home. His death comes just months after his name, picture and home address were published by the Ugandan newspaper, Rolling Stone, where Kato and 99 others were pictured in an article calling for their execution. Uganda came under scrutiny last year as its parliament proposed the death penalty for homosexual people. Many believe American Evangelicals who visited Uganda in 2009 helped create the bill and fomented a climate of fear leading to violence.


The memorial, will remember Kato's work, celebrate his life, and mourn his death while challenging lawmakers, foreign and domestic governments and citizens of this world to respond with action against anti-homosexual movements stoked by religion.

SGL Africans Tortured Even After Death;ROD: MY DEEPEST SYMPATHIES TO THE AFRICAN SGL SISTAHS AND BRUTHAZ WHO HAVE NOT BEEN ALLOWED TO REST EASY

The Associated Press reports on the widespread homophobia across the continent of Africa that has reached an all time high with some Africans committing unconscionable crimes against gay men even after death.

The Associated Press reports:

Senegal- Madieye Diallo's body had only been in the ground for a few hours when the mob descended on the weedy cemetery with shovels. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents.

A wave of intense homophobia is washing across Africa, where homosexuality is already illegal in at least 37 countries.

In the last year alone, gay men have been arrested in Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. In Uganda, lawmakers are considering a bill that would sentence homosexuals to life in prison and include capital punishment for 'repeat offenders.' And in South Africa, the only country that recognizes gay rights, gangs have carried out so-called "corrective" rapes on lesbians.

Diallo was an activist and a leader of a gay organization called And Ligay, meaning "Working together," which he ran out of his parents' house.

He was HIV-positive and on medication.

When the tabloid published the photograph, Diallo went into hiding, according to a close friend who asked not to be named because he too is gay. Unable to go to the doctor, Diallo stopped taking his anti-retrovirals. By the spring of 2009, he was so ill that his family checked him into St. Jean de Dieu, a Catholic hospital in downtown Thies, says the friend.

He was in a coma when he died at 5:50 a.m. on May 2, 2009, according to the hospital's records. Although the hospital has a unit dedicated to treating HIV patients, the young man's family never disclosed his illness, according to the doctor in charge.

Several gay friends tried to see Diallo in the hospital but were told to stay away by his family, says the friend.




When the AP tried to speak to Diallo's elderly father at his shop on the main thoroughfare in Thies, his other children demanded the reporter leave. One sister covered her face and sobbed. Another said, "There are no homosexuals here."

Hours after he died, his family took Diallo's body to a nearby mosque, where custom holds the corpse should be bathed and wrapped in a white cloth. Before the family could bathe him, news reached the mosque that Diallo was gay and they were chased out, says the dead man's friend. His relatives hastily wrapped him in a sheet and headed to the cemetery, where they carried him past the home of Babacar Sene.

"A man that's known as being a homosexual can't be buried in a cemetery. His body needs to be thrown away like trash," says Sene. "His parents knew that he was gay and they did nothing about it. So when he died we wanted to make sure he was punished."

Malcolm X Was Gay? | Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, ROD's Musings / Thoughts: What's The Value To Us In This Alleged Information???

The following is a response I made to a friend via email because of a a link he sent me initially from Dr. Hill's blog entry about Malcolm X and his alleged sexuality. It's just my own musings or thoughts on the matter.
For reference purposes, one should read the original blog entry link first: Malcolm X Was Gay? | Dr. Marc Lamont Hill

Hey SonSebek,

I finally got around to reading your email link about Malcolm.

When I first read the subject line, I remembered receiving an email a few years ago about Malcolm being "gay" and here it is surfacing again. In fact, though I don't remember, that old email may have referred this blog entry which is 4 years old. Who knows, it was a while ago.

It was an interesting read, SonSebek, but I'm not sure how this information, if true will help us who are in the now and in the living for those of us that are same gender loving (SGL) folks of African descent or not. Unless there's indisputable physical evidence (besides other people's accounts or remembrances, which are subjective and non-tangible to examine), it will all be supposition on an individual's part. And the larger Black community is still not ready to do the work around our diversified sexualities along the continuum. A large part of our community thinks heterosexuality is the only right and proper way of living, which in part, is driven by that good ol' sacred and divisive Christianity bible of theirs.

Though I was intrigued by the blog entry when Dr. Hill referenced in his blog entry how Malcolm and the other boys in his neighborhood were allegedly experimenting (aka stroking each other, sucking each other, etc.) with each other. It's intriguing to me because I think at a young age it is natural to explore one's body and coming into one's sexuality (whatever that might be) and gender identity, too! I HAVE NO DOUBT in my mind that a lot of boys (and girls, but particularly boys for the sake of talking about manhood identity in this conversation) that are now men, played around with other boys sexually, BUT WILL NEVER ADMIT to it because of stigma, shame and judgment from the Black community and because of this country's pathological idea of what it is to be a "man". A "man" being strong; masculine; non-feminine; king of the castle; providing for a woman; taking care of the stock market portfolios; etc., etc., etc., which means "real" men or "niggas" (from the projects, etc.) don't suck another man's dick or get fucked and whatever, whatever, whatever which brings out, among other things, misogyny and de-valuing others and not being real with oneself.

The larger Black community in my estimation would see Malcolm's alleged homosexuality or bisexuality as a castration of his memory. And IF it was TOTALLY TRUE beyond a reasonable doubt with concrete evidence, a lot of Black folks still wouldn't embrace that part of Malcolm into the greater sum of his whole being simply because of this heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, trans gender, hermaphrodite, man, woman, etc., etc. etc. and ultimately demeaning hierarchical totem pole we live under in our minds.

Considering Malcolm's humanitarian stature to and within the Black community, the notion that Malcolm's sexual persuasion may have been many things would bring a sense of self-worth I think for so many same gender loving (SGL) Black people to look up to (if it were totally true, but alas, we sometimes drown in "ifs") because he simply was more than the sum of his parts. And though the issues will rage on with people taking sides, the truth of the matter is that people, including myself, look for positive and affirming role models that reflect the physical tangibles and the intangibles in us in real live and multi-media. Is that so much to ask for? At the same time, and it is no cliche for me, because I'm seeing more and more why Gandhi said "Be the change (leader) you want to see."

--
ROD (aka BIG ROD)

Flipping The Script: Beyond Homophobia In Black Hollywood,Venue: Writers Guild of America, West Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 @ 7:30PM

This event appears to take place in California.

Man! I wish I could be out there for this event. Now, THIS IS AN INTERESTING TOPIC OF DISCUSSION!!

Anyone willing to fly me out there for this event? I'd be humbled and grateful

- ROD (aka BIG ROD)

Originally Posted On Shadow&Act.com:

By Tambay, on March 12th, 2010

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: BEYOND HOMOPHOBIA IN BLACK HOLLYWOOD – African American writers, actors, directors, producers, and execs explore LGBT portrayals on TV and film.

WHAT: Co-sponsored by the Writers Guild of America, West’s Gay & Lesbian Writers Committee and Committee of Black Writers, FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: BEYOND HOMOPHOBIA IN BLACK HOLLYWOOD on Tuesday, March 23rd is set to be a revealing and enlightening look at key issues involving African American gay and lesbian characters on the big and small screens. The evening’s dialogue will explore both positive and negative portrayals of LGBT characters, recurring homophobia (within black society as well as among black filmmakers/producers) that has limited and/or informed such portrayals, stereotyping controversies and contradictions, and positive gains that have been made – and need to continue to be made – within the entertainment industry.

WHO: Panelists currently scheduled to appear include: Paris Barclay (producer-director The Good Wife), Quincy LeNear and Deondray Gossett (writers-producers-directors, The D L Chronicles), Jasmine Love (writer, The District), Maurice Jamal (writer-producer-director, Chappelle’s Show), Tim McNeal (VP, Talent Development and Diversity, Disney/ABC Television), Brian White (actor, Men of a Certain Age), and Tajamika Paxton (GLAAD Director of Entertainment Media). The panel will be moderated by award-winning stage and screen actress Sheryl Lee Ralph (Dreamgirls, Moesha).

WHEN: 7:30 PM, Tuesday, March 23

WHERE: Writers Guild of America, West

Theater Play: SHE LIKE GIRLS5 Week Limited EngagementEnds Wednesday, December 30th, 2009New York City

Working Man's Clothes Productions

proudly presents the World Premiere of


Image by Kelly Syring



SHE LIKE GIRLS

a love/hate story

by Chisa Hutchinson

Directed by Jared Culverhouse

Inspired by the brutal murder of a fifteen-year-old lesbian in Newark, New Jersey, SHE LIKE GIRLS tells the story of two inner-city girls who gradually fall in love with each other in a dangerously homophobic climate.

5 Week Limited Engagement

December 3 - 30th, 2009

All performances at the Ohio Theater

"The play isn't about murder...
it's more about the urban community,
the urban family, and how they respond to homosexuality."
-- Chisa Hutchinson

She Like Girls
plays the following regular schedule
through December 30th:

Wednesdays at 8 PM
Thursdays at 8 PM
Fridays at 8 PM
Saturdays at 2 PM. and 8 PM
Sundays at 7 PM

There is an additional performance on

Wednesday, December 23 at 2 p.m.

and Sunday, December 27 at 2 p.m.


Tickets now on sale!

To Order Tickets:

CLICK HERE For TheaterMania.com

CALL TheaterMania at (212) 352 - 3101

VISIT the Box Office 1/2 hour prior to production
@ 66 Wooster Street
New York City

To inquire about group discounts,
contact jennyb[at]workingmansclothes.com




Authentic.
Original.
Theater.

www.workingmansclothes.com

Tom Joyner Morning ShowTalks About Homophobia in the Black Community

Hey Black Family,

I received this correspondence today in the form of an e-alert from my boy Jair in California.

Just wanted to share the information and the link below to listen to the 6-minute audio clip.

PLEASE NOTE that I had a little trouble getting it to play in my Mozilla Firefox (version 3.5.6) web browser and had to default to Internet Explorer to play it. Otherwise smooth sailing to play it.

Read and listen on...

We'd like to call your attention to a commentary from yesterday's (Tuesday, December 15th, 2009) Tom Joyner Morning Show, from regular TJMS commentator Jeff Johnson.

This brief clip includes commentary on the great lengths some factions went to in trying (unsuccessfully) to prevent Houston's election of an openly lesbian mayor, which leads Jeff Johnson to call out what he sees as a crisis caused by the African American community's unwillingness to be honest about its own homophobia. The clip is less than six minutes long, but in that time Jeff speaks an awful lot of truth to those that may not always want to hear it.

Everything Im Not Made Me Everything I Am For those that don't know his work, Jeff Johnson is a Washington, DC based journalist, activist and commentator. He is the author of Everything I'm Not Made Me Everything I Am: Discovering Your Personal BEST and is chief correspondent for talk show The Truth With Jeff Johnson.

This clip is an example of the type of dialogue we need - open and honest, and a call to action asking the Black community to "stop being afraid, and start being willing to understand." His willingness and courage in speaking truth to those who may not want to hear it is inspirational, energizing and deserving of our praise.

Ugandan Anti-homosexual BillThe Black Men's Xchange-New York (BMX-NY)e-Newsletter Editorial by John-Martin Green

Ugandan Anti-homosexual Bill
Editorial by John-Martin Green

In Uganda, legislation aimed at eradicating homosexuality is being considered by the government.

In her coverage of the story, MSNBC news analyst, Rachel Maddow has reported that a U.S. organization, "The Family" has conducted an anti-gay campaign in Uganda. Under the program, Ugandan President Museveni and lawmakers have been led to believe there is an "International Gay Agenda" at work in their country. In fact, as quiet as it's kept, there is. And, while we owe Maddow a profound debt of gratitude for her courageous coverage of this horrendous turn of events, I wonder that she doesn't realize that there is indeed such an agenda, and that she (inadvertently or otherwise) is a part of it.

Sylvia Tamale, a law professor at Makerere University in Uganda says it best: "Homosexuality or same-sex attractions have been part and parcel of African communities for time immemorial. But the terms 'homosexuality,' 'lesbian,' 'gay' - those are relatively new. And those are terms many Africans attracted to people of the same sex never use or never identify with."

Mind you, there is nothing sinister in the "International Gay Agenda." It is a natural extension of Gay Liberation, the homosexual self-determination movement started here in America. Part of the challenge for Africans is the gay liberation movement's advancement of gay identity, the cultural and political bearings of which are Eurocentric. Gay identity, as Professor Tamale reminds us, is not indigenous to Africa, but is a U.S. import. Even leftist NPR references the issue as one of "gay rights" in Uganda. While same-sex-attraction has been there from time immemorial, when did gay get into Uganda?

At the same time, and more importantly, there is an insidious International Anti-homosexual Agenda being advanced by reactionary American Evangelical Christians, including U.S. Senators and Congressmen with ties to Uganda (The Family) which has sparked this bill. It is in response to this neo-colonialist and potentially genocidal imperative that, as same gender loving African Americans, we are duty bound to reach out to our brethren and sisteren in Uganda in an effort to pull the wool from their eyes about their exploitation in this regard, and raise their consciousness about natural diversity among human kind.

The Black Men's Xchange-NY recognizes same gender loving experience as an intrinsic facet of everyday Black life and, as such, same gender loving people are deserving of the same respect and dignity as all other facets of human kind.

SGL Film MISSISSIPPI DAMNED At The 13th Annual Urbanworld Film FestivalFri & Sat, Sept. 25th & 26th, 2009 ONLY in NYC!

Hey Black Family,

A goof friend emailed this to me TODAY and I need to get it out pronto as it is TIME SENSITIVE...

The MOST EXCELLENT film
Mississippi Damned
will be playing in New York City at the
13th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival

PLEASE SUPPORT AND CHECK OUT HIS FILM!
It's REALLY GOOD!
And a lot of social commentary!!

Date and Time:
Friday, September 25th at 12:30pm
Location:
34th Street AMC Loews
312 West 34th Street
(between 8th and 9th Avenues)
New York, NY 10001

Date and Time:
Saturday, September 26th at 5:45pm
Location:
34th Street AMC Loews
312 West 34th Street
(between 8th and 9th Avenues)
New York, NY 10001

Check out the Urbanworld Film Festival website
for ticket information and more details.

The Two SGL Sistahs Mississippi Damned




Actor Malcolm David Kelley

TINA MABRY & MORGAN STIFF TAKES HOME JURY AWARD
FOR BEST AMERICAN INDIE FILM AT PHILADELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL

Jossie Harris Thacker, born and raised in Harlem, New York, began her career as a dancer. She moved to Los Angeles after landing a starring role as one of the acclaimed Fly Girls in Fox's hit TV show, In Living Color, opposite Keenan and Damon Wayans, Jim Carrey, and Jennifer Lopez. It was there Jossie became enamored with the craft thus making a natural transition into her acting career. Film credits include the soon to be released film: Boppin' at the Glue Factory, by director Jeff Orgill; Sergio Arau's film A Day Without a Mexican; and The Halfway Diner, an independent short film written by John Sayles. Jossie's television credits include: Chris Gerolmo's Over There for FX, NBC's ER and The West Wing, CBS's Close to Home, and ABC's Notes from the Underbelly. Jossie recently graced the stage as Margo in Carlos LaCamara's, Havana Bourgeois, a role written for her, which earned her riveting reviews from the L.A. Times and L.A. Weekly. Other memorable stage credits include the role of Desdemona in Othello starring opposite Charles Dutton and the role of Julia in Becoming Cuban, also by Carlos LaCamara.

Jossie plays Charlene "Charlie" Stone in Mississippi Damned. This is her second project with director, Tina Mabry. She starred as Brooklyn in Brooklyn's Bridge to Jordan, the multi-award winning short film that aired on Showtime, BETJ, and Logo.

Jossie will be in attendance at both screenings at Urbanworld. At the Saturday show she will be joined by Exectuive Producer and Producer, Lee V. Stiff.


Q: What was your experience like working on Mississippi Damned?
A: In a word, my experience working on Mississippi Damned was priceless. For most African-American and Latino actors, such as myself, roles like "Charlie Stone" are rarely written for us. So naturally when I was presented with the opportunity to play this delicious, complex character I was both excited and scared all at once. As if Tina had not created enough drama, while I prepared to shoot my first Charlie scene's, which was also our first day of shooting, the crew and I found ourselves in the middle of a tornado. But something about half the crew huddled together in that small bathroom bonded us. From that day forward it was like working with family. I think we all quickly got the sense that we were creating something special.

Q: Charlie experiences a lot through out the course of the movie, how did you develop her character?
A: Yes, Charlie does experience a lot throughout the movie. She basically goes through hell and back. In terms of the work I did in developing the character, I think I would need a few pages for that but I'll try to take you through the short version of my process. First off, I tackled Charlie as I do every role. I read the script as many times as I possibly could which at the time was not that many as I had to contend with my biggest challenge which was keeping my son, Elijah, then 18 months old, busy every second of the day while my lil Jonah, kicked around in my belly, ready to make his entrance at any given moment. Tina made it very easy for me though. I love a good writer and dissecting Charlie was a high for me. With every clue she gave me about the character I wrote it down or stored it in my head. Then I created a bio for Charlie and asked myself, "how am I like Charlie?" and "how am I different then Charlie?" and there I began to find her voice and ultimately her spirit. Next, I began thinking, breathing, walking, talking Charlie.

In addition, I had to tackle what was going on socially and politically for woman during the 80's and again in the 90's. I had to get into the mindset of woman during that era which looked very different than the opportunities, the rights and support that are available to me as a woman today. I don't drink nor smoke so I did a little research on the affect of chain smoking and alcoholism, and lastly, I had to work on the way Charlie spoke. I was born and raised in Harlem, Charlie was from the south, two very different dialects. Needless, to say there were a lot of traps in playing this role. I did a lot of work avoiding those traps the best I could.

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of creating your character?
A: Although the goal for every serious actor should be to disappear yourself in the role I know personally that that is actually a lot easier said than done. Because I knew this was a real and significant person in Tina's life, it was very important for me to loose "Jossie" and allow the audience to experience "Charlie". Initially, I think the most challenging aspect of creating Charlie was knowing she was a true, breathing human being and more over a living relative of Tina's, as oppose to a character she had penned in her mind. I had to let go of that pressure. Once I did, I found myself having to deal with having a little more in common with Charlie than I really cared to admit. I found myself saying, "if not for the grace of God, who knows where or who I would be today". It was scary to see that had I not made the choices I made growing up I could've easily been walking in her shoes. There wasn't one night that I didn't get back to that little room, in that cramped hotel in the middle of nowhere that I didn't thank God for my life and couldn't wait to get back to it. It was a very therapeutic journey.

Q: Which character, besides your own, do you relate to the most?
A: I relate to the role of Kari the most. I've seen MD maybe three or four times now and every time I watch it, it literally moves me to tears. It's as though I'm watching it for the first time because in a lot of ways, I'm that little girl, except my hood was Harlem, and despite what I've been through growing up I've always had a fierce determination to do and be more. Kari's story takes me through an emotional journey that reminds me of where I come from, where I've been, where I'm going and that insane single-mindedness needed to get there. Tina has done an incredible job in making all her characters relatable in some way, no matter where you're from.

Q: What projects are you currently working on?
A: I recently starred opposite Danny Pino, of CBS's, Cold Case, in the Miami stage production of, Carlos Lacamara's, Havana Bourgeois. I did the Los Angeles production of it last year and was the only cast member with the exception of Ugly Betty's, Tony Plana, invited back for the Miami run of the production. Again, it was an awesome role and it's exciting to hear the industry buzz about major investors interested in taking it to the next level, perhaps Broadway!

Next, I'm preparing for a role in a feature film that is currently in works with a highly acclaimed Oscar nominated actor, I'll keep you posted on that one. Plus I have several other projects that are currently in the pre-production stage. This continues to be a great year and I expect 2010 is going to be even better.

MISSISSIPPI DAMNED: "Relentless" Drama; RIVERS WASH OVER ME: "Total Tragedy";A Post-Reflection

Mississippi Damned (2009) Directed by Tina Mabry
Official Website: MississippiDamned.com

It took me a while to really decide to come back and report back on Mississippi Damned (2009) and Rivers Wash Over Me (2009). The reason is that I saw both films on the same day at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and I left both movies absolutely and categorically EMOTIONALLY DRAINED!! - and that is an understatement!! When you see these two very good movies you'll know what I mean.

The one word to describe Mississippi Damned (which I saw first in the late afternoon) is RELENTLESS! I mean, once the plot gets rolling in this movie, it just continues to weave, intertwine and hammer (thought never over the head) a number of drama issues that happens to families and close friends. I won't elaborate because folks should just experience the film for themselves, however, film director Tina Mabry was quoted as saying "Mississippi Damned is a family drama of three Black kids struggling to escape a cycle of abuse, addiction and violence within their family as they grow up in poor, rural Mississippi."

The Two SGL Characters In Mississippi Damned

Some Of The Characters In The Film

Actor Malcolm David Kelley

The film intelligently wears on you and you care so much for the multitude of characters. And that is the mark of a good film: to get the audience to be truly wrapped up in the lives of characters (who may or may not be real people some of us know). I highly recommend this film however, again, be forewarned of the RELENTLESS drama and plot points that continue one after the other successively. The only thing I don't like about this film is that with the exception of one Black male (there are MANY, MANY characters in this film and I can't think of the character's name, but he was a father figure), you couldn't find a Black male worth a damn in this film. Granted a lot of the characters were flawed which is realistic, but I noticed it was hard to like any of the Black men. Overall, this films earns 5 stars out of 5 from me. Great independent filmmaking and it forced me to think and look at elevating my game even more around writing good screenplays.

TINA MABRY & MORGAN STIFF TAKES HOME JURY AWARD
FOR BEST AMERICAN INDIE FILM AT PHILADELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After seeing Mississippi Damned with 3 other friends, we met up with some other some of friends at BAM and then some of us split up (I went to dinner with 2 friends at my favorite Black owned soul food spot, Brooklyn Moon in Fort Green, Brooklyn) and some of us would hook back up at BAM a 3 hours later to see Rivers Wash Over me.

Rivers Wash Over Me (2009) by Director John G. Young

Well, Rivers Wash Over Me (2009) can only be described as tragedy from the outset and continues to the very end of this film. And NO, this should not scare you away from seeing this film as dire as I make it out to be. There are definite bright spots here and there in the film, but at the same time the film flushes out the issues that young kids go through everyday such as the death of a loved one, being relocated to a new home with family you are unfamiliar and/or not close to, fitting in in school, and facing homophobia along with rape.

All these things describe exactly what happens to Sequan Greene played very, very nicely by Derrick L. Middleton who my friends and I got to meet briefly after the film screening. after seeing Mississippi Damned in the late afternoon and having dinner, I tell you... I had no idea that I would be double-dipping into a second tragedy piece of fiction in the same day of my movie outing at BAM. Hence as a said, I was EMOTIONALLY DRAINED.

I'm not a movie critic, so putting together text of how I feel and felt is hard... even as I type this... Sequan is just one of those bruthaz that is just dealt a fucked up and bad hand since his Mom passed away and he has to relocate to his relatives' home. From here Sequan never really gets a break in his new life. Yes, there are the occasional bright spots I mentioned before and these manifest themselves as the two white characters in the film who accept Sequan for who he is. One is a white girl who has a clear predilection for Black guys (and black dick - yeah, I said it!!) who dates (if you wanna call it that) a Black male in the film who is just a dead-end bad ass with his Pittsburgh Steelers Jerome Bettis jersey on. The other white angel is the girl's brother where Sequan and him have a brief sensual, if not romantic episode, on a hill of a cemetery. Yeah, I know, go figure!

Sequan Greene (left) played actor Derrick L. Middleton

The film paces well with the other main plot being Sheriff Charles King (played by African-American actor Darien Sills-Evans who I liked a lot in the film The Reception (2005)) finding a Black kid who has gone missing in parallel with investigating some white "big wig" whose gun has gone missing after an alleged car jacking. The correlation between Mississippi Damned and this film is that I found the Black male characters (with the obvious exception of Sequan) totally unrewarding with nothing going for themselves in this film, and also somewhat objectified as a sexual play toy (by the white girl) and I felt perhaps to white audience members seeing this film. This is just my gut feeling, but as I stated in my other blog entry when first announcing these films playing at BAM that I am biased toward interracial films, but at the same time I do question any possible ulterior motives by white directors (in this case, John G. Young) when they are fleshing out Black characters sometimes. However, maybe there is something to be said for the fact that the screenplay was co-written by Darien Sills-Evans. Even still, there was no Black characters in this film who stepped up to the plate for Sequan with the very mild exception of Sheriff King, and I can't elaborate because of a major plot point. Sequan could only find escapism through James Baldwin's book Nobody Knows My Name.The two white characters being Sequan's only safe haven was fucking tired to me!

In any event the plot unweaves itself slowly, but I found myself emotionally sighing and holding my head with my hand and elbow pressed against the armrest as Sequan was subjected to acts of violence by his cousin Michael and the school kids. The ending was totally unsatisfying to me from a plot perspective of what the white male character did in a time of panic and Sheriff King's late actions with no resolution. And no, I wasn't looking for a happy ending, just unsatisfied with the way the film's plot ended and my friends who were with me felt the same way. Despite my criticisms Director John G. Young somehow manages to find a way for me to somewhat like his films (Parallel Sons, The Reception) including this one. Thought I give this film 3.5 stars out of 5, I don't always like the way he handles the Black characters in all his films collectively.

Overall, I want to emphasize that these two films are really worth seeing. I know my characterizations of the films as "relentless drama", "total tragedy", "emotionally drained" and so-on sound like a recipe for sadness and disaster and some folks simply won't go see films like that, but challenge yourself because the storytelling is really high, and frankly, better than these Hollywood blockbuster budget and so-called films. There's good in these films. The only thing I don't recommend is watching both in the same day! LOL!

Coincidentally, Watching these films and writing about them haven't been this emotional since seeing the most excellent film Hotel Rwanada (2004) / Sometimes In April (2005) and the brilliant same gender loving (SGL) film Blind Faith (1998) which is one of my top favorite SGL films of all-time. I can only watch Blind Faith every couple of years because it's that deep for me as it deals with homophobia, racism, classism, and domestic violence which is set in 1957. It's directed by African-American cinematographer and director Ernest Dickerson (Malcolm X). It's very unfortunate that Blind Faith is not on DVD. I still hold onto my priced VHS pre-cordeded version.

Be qool, y'all!
ROD

INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA!!!Why Does Homosexual Porn And SGL Lifestyle Magazines Need A "Sexual Orientation" Disclaimer?

Is it just me or does anyone get bent out of shape in regard to the (above picture) "sexual acts" disclaimer (pictured above) at the beginning of porn video credits???!! I know some people may laugh at me for getting bent out of shape about a disclaimer on porn (despite it's overall artistic endeavors and impact on the world being low on the totem pole). However, there is something to be said about the psychology of this kind of thinking and propaganda and one's self-worth to even address this on a video.

Although this particular disclaimer above is from the Rocky Ruiz porn video, I've seen this type of disclaimer in a number of homosexual porn videos as well as same gender loving (SGL) lifestyle magazines like PULSE, CLIK and Bleu (see the fine print).


I mean, why do these companies need to say that? Do heterosexual porn videos or general (non-homosexual) lifestyle magazines out there state a similar disclaimer? Well, NO, not that I've ever seen. To me this speaks of internalized-homophobia: the idea of being featured in a homosexual porn video or a respectable and excellent lifestyle magazine, yet claiming a loophole that some of the actors, stars or models may not have a homosexual orientation because they're featured in a homosexual product. This is NOT needed!! It's like being apologetic for someone featured in a magazine who might be misconstrued as being homosexual because the target audience is Black or Latino same gender loving folks. Come on... Actors are actor! Stars are stars! Models are models! As long as the viewer's fantasy is fulfilled in a video, or a magazine model's picture compliments the words of a particular feature article(s), then that is all that matters.

I don't wonder or muse through a video or magazine on whether a brutha is hetero or homo. I sometimes think to myself in some cases that "Wow! He looks mad cute" or "Man! He's a hottie" and then I move on because I don't know these bruthaz.


I've had this discussion with other bruthaz in my circle and basically I get a body language shug of "So what?" or no response as it's not important to them. I told one of my mentors that I'm going to publish it here on the Nubian Knights Network, and his question was "Do you actually read the credits during a porn video?" I didn't say this to him (my mentor), but I do like to read credits only for the productions dates of the video to see how recent the video is otherwise I don't read anything else except the starring people. It just so happens that I've been catching these disclaimers in a number of videos and remember seeing it in PULSE magazine, too. And YES, I do proudly claim that I do sit through and read the credits of Indy and Hollywood films at the end of a film in the movie theater, and also watch the credits through and through for home viewing. Going all the way back to when I was a kid, I've always taken the artistry of filmmaking (not porn) seriously and I like to see the credits of the hundreds of folks it takes to put a film production together. I guess, hence me persuing the dream as a filmmaker myself. So sue me!

Click The Above Image To See
The Yellow Hi-lited Fine Print
On The Ridiculous Sexual Orientation Disclaimer

Again, maybe it's just me, but I wanted to get this off my chest. I just think it's stupid and ridiculous and speaks to one of the myriad of problems in the Black (and Latino) SGL community regarding our (non) comfortability with our fluid sexuality and the emasculation and woundedness of the Black male which goes all the way back 400+ years to our powerlessness during slavery and the middle passage.