Documentary:

‘deepsouth’ explores HIV

in the South

Written by liukarama

deepsouth is a poetic and grounding exploration into the lives of those affected by HIV in the American South. After 30 years, the global epidemic has overshadowed the fight at home, where HIV has never looked like this before.

Facing a broken health system and a culture of denial,  Southerners must create their own solutions to survive.

A young, black gay man tries to escape his past and the heavy judgment of the Mississippi Delta; two best friends and their DIY community prepare for an annual HIV retreat in rural Louisiana; and, an Alabama activist spends 120 days on the road fighting for equitable resources.

Intermixed in these main story lines are several mini-stories that reveal broader social and political themes across the rural South.

The film premiered July 23-25, 2012 in Washington, DC and will hit Birmingham, AL August 25 at their Sidewalk Film Festival.

The Saddest Story

of the Olympics

that American TV Neglected

Aug 6, 2012 / Written by Jay Sanin

From: http://1045theteam.com/

Recently, our own Bruce Jacobs wrote about how the coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games was just fine, and how nobody should be airing their grievances about it, which many have taken to the web to do. However, if you don’t like tape delays, web streams that freeze or are blurry on many occasions, or have even one iota of interest in seeing nations other than the United States compete, you would disagree with Bruce’s point of view. If you agree with Bruce, you probably don’t care that you were not shown one of the saddest moments in Olympic history from an on-field perspective. 

Monday, in the women’s fencing epee semifinal match between Britta Heidemann of Germany and Shin A Lam of South Korea, Lam led with one second left on the clock. All she had to do was not be touched in that one second and she would be advancing to the gold medal match. Unfortunately for Shin, the clock never started after the referee signaled to restart the match, giving Heidemann more than one second to land the winning touch.

Incensed, the Korean team paid to file an appeal of the decision, while Shin had to sit on the playing surface, known as a piste, to indicate that she did not accept the decision of the judges. She was there for over a half hour, with much of that time spent in tears, before the appeal was denied.

Shin remained on the piste after the decision was made in protest, before then being removed by security. She was then sent into the bronze medal match shortly after and, understandably still distraught, was defeated by China’s Yujie Sun. Shin should have been fencing for gold, but left empty handed.

Since the incident, it has come out that the timekeeper for the event was a 15 year old British volunteer. Really? This isn’t fencing class at the Y, this is the Olympics. There was nobody in the entire world with any timekeeping experience that could have been called upon to take on such an important task? When I was 15, I wouldn’t have had the attention span to do that job either. Whoever made the choice to put a child in charge of the clock for an Olympic event should be fired.

It has also been reported that Shin has been offered a “consolation medal” by the IOC for the myopia of the officials. Consolation medals aren’t bronze, silver, or gold. They are glorified participation ribbons with a little greeting card attached that says “Whoops” on it. Shin justifiably turned it down.

This was a riveting story and one that would have been perfect for primetime television. However, it wasn’t swimming, diving, gymnastics or beach volleyball and didn’t directly involve an American, so NBC saw no reason to pay it much attention.

To an extent I can see their point in not covering Shin’s case in prime time. We are in America and residents of this country want to see their countrymen compete. But instead of showing nauseating profile pieces about Missy Franklin and how much she loves Justin Bieber or an interview where Andrea Kremer asks a swimmer what their strategy was (obviously their strategy was to win, Andrea), couldn’t NBC have donated five minutes to the biggest story of the Olympic Games to that point?

Maybe I’m stubborn for thinking that the Olympics should be treated as and covered like a sporting event. But as someone working for a sports radio station, who watches sports for the sports rather than the frills and the pageantry, I have been disgusted by NBC’s coverage of these Games. Almost as disgusted as I am with whoever decided to let a 15 year old manage the clock in Olympic fencing.

UPDATE (8/4/2012 3:19 P.M.): Shin and the South Korean team won the silver medal in today’s women’s team epee final against China. A somewhat happy ending to the story.

We've Read It!

Shadow And Act's Thoughts

On Nina Simone

Feature Project Screenplay

by Vanessa Martinez

 

August 15, 2012 

 

 

 

 

 

I just read a draft of the still-untitled screenplay for the Nina Simone feature film project, penned by Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne) dated April 2, 2011.  The script is based on Nina Simone’s 1992 autobiography I Put A Spell On You, which centers on her relationship with Clifton Henderson, a nurse Simone met while institutionalized at a psychiatric hospital in California.

We know David Oyelowo is slated to star in the role of Clifton. And very recently, we posted Zoe Saldana’s alleged attachment to the film in the role of Simone, but that hasn't been fully confirmed yet.

The story, although set in the early 1990’s for much of the main narrative – a love story between Simone and her young assistant - is anachronistically told through intermittent flashbacks: an 18 year-old Nina reading a rejection letter from the Curtis Institute; Nina playing at a nightclub in 1962; Nina as a young child refusing to play in her school’s auditorium unless her parents sit up front, and so on.

In one of the opening scenes, an enraged, belligerent, foul-mouthed, mentally unstable Simone, now 60, assaults a cop on her way into the psychic ward. She’s an alcoholic. She’s under the care of a young male nurse (Clifton), whom Nina seems to instantly bond with because he’s black; he agrees to become her assistant and move with her to France.

From here on, Clifton bears the incredible challenge of caring for the embittered, demanding, volatile, promiscuous and alcoholic Simone. However, Simone begins harboring real feelings for Clifton; and a genuinely loving - yet complex - relationship develops between her and the much younger man.

But the real highlight of it all is Nina Simone performing. These sequences are meant to not only capture her genius talent, but Nina’s spirit and inner turmoil. She tells her life through her songs, and also expresses what she’s not able to when she’s not performing.

Other than that however, we get glimpses of her past joys; and also struggles as a Black woman during the civil rights movement in flashbacks: Nina sharing a laugh with Lorraine Hansberry prior to performing To Be Young, Gifted and Black, a song she dedicated to Hansberry; Nina honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at his funeral, and a scene of Nina sharing a joint with Richard Pryor while both reflect on their lives.

There’s more obviously. But, much more is omitted, like her marriage to Andrew Stroud - who later became her manager - aside from a short flashes of an upset Nina rummaging through his things, or of his presence while her only daughter was a baby. Also Simone’s daughter, whom she regretfully neglected as a child due to her work and partying, is only depicted as a baby and a toddler.

Ultimately, the project is meant to honor the passionate soul and sensitive nature – yet resilience- of an immense talent, who, despite her grand achievements, struggled with remorse, insecurity, feeling unloved and misunderstood.

The film’s success really depends on the execution. Perhaps with the right performers, editing, cinematography and direction, this could be an interesting, compelling film. Without it, it could be a mess, suffer from a lack of substance and other ills, like, bad acting.

In the script, Nina’s redemption- personal and artistic, comes through her relationship with Clifton. I haven’t read the book, and perhaps he really did have a great impact in her later years. I’m not sure if they kept in touch through the end of her life.

The script certainly makes it seem that way. Some would call it simplistic and romanticized.

There are touching scenes here, especially between the main characters; but really, aside from David Oyelowo delivering in his role of Clinton, a nuanced, gripping and soulful performance for Simone’s character is key.

It will be interesting to find out the casting choices for Simone at the different stages of her life. A child actor will obviously be cast to play 7-year old Nina. Another actress may be cast to portray Simone from the age of 18 through her 30’s.

But since the story takes place in the early 1990’s, when Simone was around 60, I wonder if an older actress may be cast. However, and most likely, with make-up work, one actress may transform physically from young adulthood and on.

Of course the most current draft of the script may be different from this draft I read, and some things may have changed.

So who else is there left to cast, besides the eccentric icon and High Priestess of Soul, that may be of interest to us?

HEATHER, 20's, very pretty, a little slicker than Clifton– her race is not specified.  She’s from Clifton’s Chicago hometown. He’s been pining for her for the past five years. She’s in only one scene in which Simone invites her and Clifton, along with Clifton’s parents, out to see her perform.

Clifton's FATHER, He's a big guy with a dark engaging presence. Clifton looks nothing like him- There is a pretty long scene in which Clifton’s parents meet Simone at their home.

Clifton's MOM, pretty – She’s a big fan of Simone.

OLIVIA, a nurse, 30, young, pretty, but serious– She is Clifton’s girlfriend in the latter part of the film. No race is specified, although we can assume she is French and White; in a scene in which Clifton is having dinner with Olivia and her extended family, “No one is black, none speak English.”

RICHARD PRYOR, totally MS'd out, but still Richard – perhaps an older actor would be cast here, since Pryor is introduced in the early 90’s. Another scene appearing Pryor takes place in 1961 while Pryor and Nina wait backstage to be introduced for their acts. Maybe a young actor will be cast?

LORRAINE HANSBERRY, 34 – Set in 1964 Harlem, Simone and Hansbury are “drinking and hanging.” Hansbury encourages Nina to sing and play the piano for her.

Like I mentioned earlier, the highlight of the project is truly Simone’s music. She performs the following songs:

Black Is The Color

Tell Him I Love Him

To Be Young, Gifted and Black

Wild is The Wind

Just Like A Woman

Four Women

Mississippi Goddamn

The King of Love is Dead

I Put A Spell on You

Feeling Good

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

Brown Baby

I Shall Be Released

Here Comes The Sun

We Need To Educate Ourselves

On Race vs. Ethnicity

(And Other Things I Learned

From The Ongoing

Zoe Saldana/Nina Simone

Conversation)

by Emmanuel Akitobi

 

August 16, 2012

The widespread public reaction to this week's news that actress Zoe Saldana has replaced singer Mary J. Blige in the planned Nina Simone biopic has been very interesting-- if not troubling.

The reaction was swift, blunt, and, seemingly, most critical among black readers who left passionate comments all over the blogosphere.  Simone's own daughter should be commended for her measured approach in responding to the controversy.

This week I learned a lot about some of the readers of S&A, and other blogs with content geared to readers throughout the African diaspora.  And some of what I learned, I didn't like too much.

What started off as a fair display of disapproval for a film's casting, quickly dissolved into a barrage of hateful and hurtful comments, directed at the subject of the film and the star, at the time only rumored to be attached.

There was talk about who should have been cast instead of Saldana; there was debate about whether Saldana was too pretty to play Simone, who some foolhardily labeled as unattractive.

Inevitably, and perhaps with good reason, there was concern that the role of music legend Simone was to be played by an actress of a hue different than her own.  At this point in the conversation, They still had me.  I was still listening, and still learning how people were feeling about the issue.

"She's too light-skinned to be taken seriously as Nina Simone," declared many who objected to the casting. 

"And besides-- she's a Latina.  She's stealing jobs from real black actresses."

And that's where they lost me.

I can maybe understand some of the concern expressed; most especially from those who have only identified Saldana as Latina and believe that to be the sole way she self-identifies.  But for those who have viewed or read interviews wherein Saldana has self-identified as both black and Latina, I'm having difficulty understanding the lingering confusion and suspicion.

I think we've had this conversation on S&A several times before (the earliest instance I could recall was back in 2009 with Ms. WOO), so I won't take you on a long trip down memory lane this time.

Race and ethnicity-- it's understandable that some may mistake one for the other.  But we all need to have a better understanding of the difference between race and ethnicity, and how it's absolutley possible (and normal) for Saldana to be both a black woman and a Latina.  Also, we need to understand why her ethnicity should not be the determining factor in arguing against Saldana being cast in the planned Nina Simone biopic. 

First things first, let's get some definitions . . .

The word "ethnic" refers to a member of a minority group who retains the customs, language, or social views of the group.  In Saldana's case, she has self-identified culturally as a Spanish-speaking Latina, from the region of the Americas known as Latin America.  (Not everyone in Latin America speaks Spanish, by the way.)  Her ethnicity is Latina.

The word "race"is defined as a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.  In most regions of the world, this would apply to skin color, hair texture, and facial features.  Saldana's race is black.  If you think hard enough about it, I'm sure you would be able to name a few people, who you consider black, who look just like her.

And I say all of that, to say this:  It's perfectly understandable for there to be some opposition to the casting of Zoe Saldana in the role of Nina Simone, but not because she's Latina.  I think the belief that Saldana is stealing jobs from "real" black actresses is an ignorant one; but one that can be easily remedied with a little bit of education.

So there you have it.  Zoe Saldana-- a self-identifying black Latina actress.  And she's not the only one, either.

Let's revisit the below short clip from mun2.tv which discusses the realities of being black and Latino, from the perspective of various actors, musicians, and artists in this country who have also struggled with the perception that one must be one or the other.

Zara McFarlane 

Zara McFarlane website

http://www.chromemusic.de/entertainment/video/zara-mcfarlane-police-thieves/

__________________________

Artist:  Zara McFarlane, Shirma Rouse and Gregory Porter
Venue: BIRD, Rotterdam, May 19 2012

The 2012 Open City Magazine

No-Fee RRofihe Trophy

Short Story Contest @ Anderbo

2012 RRofihe Trophy

For an unpublished short story
(Minimum word count: 3,500; maximum to 5,000 words)

Winner Receives:

$500 cash
Trophy
Announcement & Publication on anderbo.com

Judged by Rick Rofihe
2012 Contest Assistant: Carolyn Wilsey
Carolyn Wilsey has read fiction for Esquire and Swink,
and is the Managing Editor of Anderbo

Guidelines:   –Stories should be typed, double-spaced, with the author’s   name, the story's title, and contact information on the first page   –Submissions must be received by December 31st, 2012   –Limit one submission per author   –Author must not have been previously published in   Open City Magazine or on Anderbo   –E-mail submissions to editors@anderbo.com with   RROFIHE TROPHY in the subject line   –YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR STORY-MANUSCRIPT   ENTRY WITHIN THE BODY OF THE E-MAIL—NO   ATTACHMENTS!   –THERE IS NO READING FEE and all literary rights will   remain with the author   Contest Judge Rick Rofihe is the author of FATHER MUST, a collection of short stories published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Grand Street, Open City, Swink, Unsaid, and on epiphanyzine, slushpilemag, and fictionaut. His nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, SPY, and The East Hampton Star, and on mrbellersneighborhood. A recipient of the Whiting Writers’ Award, he has taught MFA writing at Columbia University. He currently teaches privately in New York City, and was an advisor to the Vilcek Foundation for their 2011 prizes in the field of literature. Rick is the Editor of Anderbo.

 

 

 

 

Call for Submissions:

The African Street Writer (Africa-wide)

The African Street Writer is calling for submissions from writers across Africa. Entries are welcomed in three categories: Fiction, Non-fiction and Poetry.

All entries should not be more than 1000 words and should be sent in the body of the e-mail (No attachment(s) please) to theafricanstreetwriter@yahoo.com. Please note that we are only interested in materials written out of inspiration, experience and/or creativity.

Originality is our key principle. We do not accept entries not written by the writer.

GUIDELINES

• FICTION: To submit, send a story of not more than 1000 words.The subject of the e-mail should be: Submission/Fiction/Title. For example: Submission/Fiction/Last chance

• NON-FICTION: To submit, send an article of not more than 1000 words. The subject of the mail should be: Submission/Non-Fiction/Title. For example: Submission/Non-Fiction/Welcome To The African Street Writer. Note: Non-Fiction works may also include self- help articles that could teach people how to do something you know, usually a skill, such as: how to cook rice, how to decorate your sitting room for Christmas, how to bake cake, etc.

• POETRY: To submit, send a poem of not more than 1000 words. The subject of the email should be: Submissions/Poetry/Title. For example: Submissions/Poetry/Darkness.

Please note: In all your submissions, you must include at the top of the page:

• Your Full name

• Country

• Phone number

• Email address

• Blog Address

• A brief description of yourself

PUBLISHING AND BENEFITS

We will contact you before we publish your work. However, your work must be eye-catching and alluring enough to inspire and teach others, before we would accept to publish it here. We will start publishing the best pieces from 1st of September, Two Thousand and Twelve.

Like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/theafricanstreetwriter to follow when your work will be published or to read others.

You mustn’t be a writer before you could follow and read stories here. We write, so that everyone could read, have fun and most importantly; learn something new.

WHAT YOU STAND TO GAIN

If you have a beautiful piece, don’t you think someone should see it, read it and appreciate it? For this reason alone, you should share with friends on Facebook or to visitors in your website or blog. If you don’t have enough friends on Facebook or enough people visiting your blog, or you don’t have a blog at all, then why not share in another platform where people you have not met around the world could read you?

Our Vision is to help every writer in Africa extend their readership to the world You don’t pay us to do that, rather our mission is to pay you someday. Common! If writing is your gift, why hoard it or why share it to only few people? Get outside your box and let the world appreciate what you love doing, let people laugh, let them cry, let them learn from your experiences and let them be inspired. And while doing this, you might be creating an unimaginable opportunity for yourself.

All selected works would include your name and a little description about you plus a link to your site or blog so that people who like your work can check up on you. Once your work is published here, you automatically become an African Street Writer.

Finally, something New & Interesting is coming up in January 2013. Be an African Street Writer now.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: theafricanstreetwriter@yahoo.com

Website: http://theafricanstreetwriter.wordpress.com/

Call for Submissions of Scripts

on the Black Jewish Experience

Mark Clayton Southers, artistic director for the theatre initiative at The August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh, has a series planned for the fall and is looking for plays which deal with the Black-Jewish experience.

If you have a script which fits this theme, contact Jaz Dorsery, the founder of African American Playwrights Exhance. Do not send scripts at this time, just get back to me and let me know what you have or if you know of someone who has an appropriate property.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries: contact Jaz Dorsey via the comment box here

Website: http://www.africanamericanplaywrightsexchange.blogspot.com, http://www.augustwilsoncenter.org/