Short biography competition

A new competition for short innovative biographical writing designed to lead to publication by Kingston University Press Ltd.

We seek either publication-ready manuscripts and/or proposals with a sample chapter for this competition. Scripts and proposals will be judged separately by a team of judges that includes life-writers and biographers Rachel Cusk, Alexander Masters, Dr Jane Jordan and Peter Parker (all associated with Kingston Writing School1) as well as KUP editors and directors.

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Kingston University Press (KUP) is an established name in innovative life-writing and memoir. Winners of our previous competition, Gill Gregory's The Sound of Turquoise, Christopher Vanier's Caribbean Chemistry and most recently, Maggie Harris with her memoir of a Guyanean upbringing, Kiskadee Girl have all been published to acclaim.

We now wish to expand the area of our list devoted to biographical writing and seek entries to a new competition which should lead to publication under contract by KUP Ltd.

The 'new new' journalism, journals like Life Writing and the increase in 'personal voice scholarship' have all contributed to the development of new and innovative ways to approach biographical writing. At KUP, we are acutely aware that contemporary biographical work may concentrate solely on one section of a life, may focus exclusively on an overlooked or forgotten area of the subject's endeavour or may indeed be a hybrid form which crosses the apparent boundaries of memoir and biography.

As Kingston University London is the home of the Centre for Life Narratives, the first of its kind in the UK, KUP wishes to encourage the writing of quality work which deserves publication. We particularly encourage literary biographers who may have found several interesting 'characters' when working on a full biography of a writer and/or we seek the story of lives which have had literary, social or historical influence which as yet has been unrecorded.

We require either a complete manuscript of between 20,000 and 30,000 words or a proposal consisting of a full chapter-by-chapter outline of an ms which could be ready within six months from the closing date as well as at least one and up to 4 sample chapters or a substantial example of your other published writing (max 5000 words).

Key facts

• Closing Date: Post-marked by midnight Friday 10 February 2012
• Entry Fee: £20 per item
• Each entry to be a maximum 35,000 words (judges will favour those under 30,000 words)
• You may submit multiple entries, provided the £20 entry fee is paid for each
• The author of winning manuscript or manuscripts will be published by Kingston University Press *
• Prize winners will be contacted by 13 April 2012 and results posted on this website

* The author of the winning proposal or proposals will be offered a series of four editorial sessions with KUP editors designed to help them move forward with their work with a view to contracting the publication of their book.

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To enter by post

There is no special entry form; write or type each entry on one side of A4 white paper; put the title on every page and number your pages. Do not show the author's name or any other identifying marks on submitted work. No staples.

Add a covering note with your full name, address, email address (if you have one) and the title(s) of your entry.

Enclose your cheque, postal order or money order, made out to "KUP Ltd" with the entrant's name easily identifiable (for instance written on the back), to the value of your total number of entries. The fee for each entry is £20.

Send the lot, in an envelope stamped with sufficient postage, to:

Short Biography Competition
KUP Ltd
Main Building Room 310
Kingston University
Penrhyn Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey KT1 2EE

Postal entries acknowledged only on supply of a stamped, return-addressed envelope. Entries are not returned.

To enter by email

In the body of the email give your full name, address and title(s) of your entry.

Attach each entry as a Word (.doc) document or in Rich Text Format (.rtf) file, not .docx nor pdf. Put the title on every page. Do not show the author's name on submitted work. Number the pages.

Send email plus attachment(s) to: KupWritingComp@hotmail.co.uk2

Pay entry fee(s) within 10 days by posting a pound sterling cheque, postal order or money order made out to "KUP Ltd", to the value of the total number of entries, with entrant's name easily identifiable (for instance written on the back), to the Short Biography Competition at the address given in full above.

Emailed entries will be acknowledged by email though no correspondence will be entered into.

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Terms and conditions

Receipt of your entry will be deemed your acceptance of the rules, terms and conditions3.

The Cancer Poetry Project:

Submission Guidelines

Awards: Roughly 150 poems will be selected for publication in the second volume of The Cancer Poetry Project. From those poems, three winners will be selected from each of four categories, for a total of 12 winners. The categories are the following: patients/survivors, spouses/partners, family members, and friends/health providers. The top winner in each category will receive $250 and a $150 donation to the cancer organization of his or her choice. Two honorable mentions will be selected in each category; each honorable mention poet will receive $75 and a $25 donation to the cancer organization of his or her choice. All poets whose poems are selected for publication will receive a copy of the book.

Final Judge: Karin B. Miller

Eligibility: Anyone touched by cancer. Roughly one-third of the poets published in the first volume of The Cancer Poetry Project had been previously unpublished. Submissions: Poets may submit up to two poems, which may be no longer than 50 lines each. Each poem submitted should include the poet’s name, email address, mailing address and phone number. Due to the volume of submissions, manuscripts will not be returned. Poets whose poems are selected will be notified. Winners will be announced in June 2012.

Deadline Extended: Submissions must be postmarked by April 30, 2012.

Entry Fee: $5 (for up to two poems) for unpublished poets. $10 (for up to two poems) for published poets. Enclose check with submission, made payable to The Cancer Poetry Project. Entry fees are non-refundable.

Click here to submit poetry online.

Or send submission to:
The Cancer Poetry Project
P.O. Box 16590
Minneapolis, MN 55416

International poets: Please submit your poetry via traditional mail. Thanks!

 

 Date for submissions is December 12th 2011 to February 29th 2012

 

Uphook Press specializes in work by poets and spoken word artists who love both the ink and the mic. -gape-seed- is our third anthology, taken from open submission, with the aim to promote a nationwide community of performing poets.

One to four poems pasted in body of email and sent, together with a short bio, and full contact details, to submissions@uphookpress.com. No attachments unless asked for. Please include your name in the subject line. And let us know how you discovered Uphook Press!

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No previously published work, translations, haikus, sentimental or light verse. We strongly suggest you take a look at one of our previous anthologies - or come to one of our readings - to see the type of work we are interested in.

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Simultaneous submissions are fine if indicated but inform us immediately at editors@uphookpress.com if accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions.

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Poets who have been accepted before by us, feel free to submit again. Poets who have been in two consecutive Uphook Press anthologies, we have a “one year break” policy.

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United States based poets only please. 

The Top 10

African films of 2011

December 20, 2011

By Basia Lewandowska Cummings 10 Comments

2011 was a good year for African cinema. In various cinema seats and at home, I’ve been intrigued and moved, horrified and sickened, surprised and hugely entertained by a group of industries that together we call ‘African cinema’ — a sign that what can be expected is anything but stereotypical. In the list below, I’ve chosen films that have expanded what we might think of as ‘African cinema’. Some short films, some documentary, some fiction, some a strange mix of them all.

However, the films I can’t list are perhaps the most powerful ones of the year; those captured on mobile phones and camcorders during critical moments in uprisings, revolutions and elections that have continued to broaden our grasp on the lives and experiences of those whose lives are not yet captured by cinema. This is a new kind of viewing, and one which I think will continue to transform the aesthetic, narratives and distribution of African film in 2012.

(A note for readers: some of these films were released in 2010, but gained theatrical release or wider audiences this year so I’ve included them too. In each case a description of the film is accompanied by its trailer.)

A Screaming Man. Director Mahamat Saleh Haroun. Starring Youssouf Djaoro, Diouc Koma. Chad, 2010, 92 mins
A subtle and masterful story of a father and sons relationship, set against the backdrop of the ongoing civil war in Chad. Filmed around the glittering edges of a hotel swimming pool threatened by the outside world, Haroun’s characteristic wit and tender approach to filming continues his themes of war, fatherhood and family life.

Dirty Laundry. Dir. Stephen Abbott. Starring Bryan van Niekerk, James Ngcobo, Carl Beukes. South Africa, 2011, 16 mins
Roger has a tough time when he shows up to the Wishy Washy at 1am, and begins to separate ‘his whites from his coloreds’. A fantastic short film, a microcosm of the acerbic wit and humor evident in much post-Apartheid cinema.

The Athlete. Dir. Rasselas Lakew and Davey Frankel. Starring Rasselas Lakew. Ethiopia/USA, 2009, 93 mins
Melding breathtaking archival footage with live action, this is the extraordinary story of the triumphs and tragedies of a man considered by many to be the greatest long-distance runner in history: Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila. You can read my post on The Athlete on AIAC here.

Blood in the Mobile. Dir. Frank Piasecki Poulsen . Denmark/DRC, 2010, 82 mins
Are you reading this on your phone? Poulsen’s documentary is engrossing and hard-hitting as it implicates all of us – through our addiction to our mobile phones – in the civil war in eastern Congo. Poulsen sets out to reveal the source of ‘conflict minerals’, which he suspects are used in the world’s largest mobile phone company, Nokia. Corporate inhumanity turns out to be just as terrifying as the heart of civil war, a different devil, which Poulsen shows in this fantastic and brave documentary.

Drexciya. Dir. Akosua Adoma Owusu. US/Ghana, 2011, 12 mins
Drexciya refers to an underwater subcontinent where the unborn children of pregnant African women thrown off slave ships have adapted to breathe underwater. Poetic, eerie and stunning, an experimental short, a portrait of an abandoned Olympic sized swimming pool in Accra, Ghana, set on “The Riviera” – Ghana’s first pleasure beach.

Microphone. Dir. Ahmad Abdalla. Starring Khaled Abol Naga. Egypt, 2010, 120 mins
Released in cinemas in January 2011, nobody in Egypt saw this film, something that Khaled Abol Naga — the lead actor and co-producer of the film — is thrilled about. Instead, Egypt was in revolution. This fantastic film is part fiction, part documentary, a love letter to the underground arts scene in Alexandria. From hip hop rappers to mournful accordion players, graffiti artists and skateboarders, it is a vibrant, funny and brave snapshot of the world of art that happens beneath the radar of an ambivalent police state.

Witches of Gambaga. Dir. Yaba Badoe. Ghana/UK, 2011, 55 mins
A courageous, intimate exposé follows, over the course of five years, the experiences of some women branded as ‘witches’ by their communities, ostracised and condemned to leave their families, to live in ‘Gambaga’. Death determined by way a chicken dies, Badoe’s film tenderly and courageously exposes the moment where belief and ritual cover horror and prejudice.

No More Fear. Dir. Mourad Ben Cheikh. Tunisia, 2011, 72 mins
The first feature-length documentary about the Tunisian revolution, “No More Fear” was selected for a special screening at Cannes this year. The film brings together news footage of the demonstrations with a variety of players in the revolution, providing a diverse picture of the groundswell that rose up to topple the dictatorial regime. It is passionate, raw, and immediate. It shows a revolution pushed forward by the young, who overcame the population’s long-ingrained fear. (Good to watch with Microphone, for an ‘Arab Spring’ night.)

Viva Riva! Dir. Djo Munga. Starring Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Diplome Amekindra. 2010, 98 min.
I’m including this, not because I thought it was particularly fantastic, but because it was a triumph in the harsh world of theatrical release for an African film. It gained pretty widespread distribution in the UK with Metrodome, and for a Congolese genre piece — a dark noir full of guns, sex and money — it did quite well. It is good, entertaining viewing.

Pumzi. Dir. Wanuri Kahiu. Starring Kudzani Moswela, Nicole Bailey, Chantelle Burger. Kenya 2009, 20 mins
African sci-fi? Yeah. You have to see it. Clever, witty, powerful ideas. A must see if you can get your hands on it.

Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto was one of the most complex and fascinating characters of our time. Hers is an epic tale of Shakespearean dimensions, of a privileged girl born into Pakistan’s equivalent of the Kennedy family. She would trade her Western lifestyle to become the first Muslim woman elected in history to lead an Islamic nation.

Benazir Bhutto was born into a wealthy landowning family that became Pakistan’s dominant political dynasty. The Bhutto family’s painful history of triumph and tragedy has played out on an international stage.

Educated at Harvard and Oxford, and with an eye on a foreign-service career, Benazir’s life changed forever when her father, Pakistan’s first democratically elected president, chose Benazir to carry his political mantle over the family’s eldest son. In the late 1970s, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown and executed by his handpicked Army Chief, Benazir swore to avenge her father and restore democracy — or to die trying.

Benazir Bhutto may have broken the Islamic glass ceiling, but she was not liberated in all of the ways the Western world might expect; she was wed in a traditional arranged marriage to a notorious Karachi playboy, Asif Ali Zardari (who is now president of Pakistan).

She served two terms in power as the Prime Minister of Pakistan marked by acts of courage and controversy. She eradicated polio and championed the rights of women while fighting the male-dominated political elite and a nervous military leadership, but was constantly defending herself against accusations of corruption and scandal.

In 2007, with the South Asian country in turmoil and under the thumb of yet another military dictator, Benazir was called back onto the world stage as Pakistan’s best hope for democracy. With her assassination she transcended politics, but left a legacy of simmering controversy and undeniable courage that will be debated for years.

 

Gendering Negritude with

Shireen Lewis

Posted by Jared A. Ball on October 21, 2011

 

 

Download ShireenLewis.mp3

Dr. Shireen K. Lewis joined the show this week to discuss her work on Black women and Negritude.  Her book Race, Culture, and Identity: Francophone West African and Caribbean Literature and Theory from Negritude to Creolite’ was the basis of our interview and led us through the histories of Negritude and Creolite’, the politics of pan-Africanism, the work of Paulette Nardal, Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, Leopold Senghor and the gendering of Negritude.  Dr. Lewis shared also about her work with EduSeed’s Sister/Mentors program in Washington, D.C.

 

What Color is Haitian Jesus?

Posted on October 17, 2011 by blackdiplomacy

My favorite scene in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X is when, while in prison, he asks the priest “what color was Jesus?” Denzel/Malcolm X goes on to quote phrases from the Bible to indicate that Jesus might not have been white after all (though, I will say arguing over skin color is not likely to go over well with Jesus in the first place). Why this is interesting to me is that Denzel begins this scene by asking “what color were the disciples?” And while the priest responded with a vague “there’s no way to be certain,” his question as to the color of Jesus was met with a definitive “white.”

And so I ask you, what color is Haitian Jesus? That is not to say there are multiple Christian deities. No, I am speaking specifically of how Jesus is depicted in Haitian art. And, before you answer that, I’ll also posit, what color were the disciples? Or how about John the Baptist? The Three Wise Men? How about the Virgin Mary? Take a moment to write down your answers….

Last week I visited the El-Saieh Gallery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The gallery is formerly the private collection of the current owner’s grandfather, Issa El Saieh, a renowned big band kompa performer in his day. His granddaughter, Sheron, converted the mansion and the collection into a public art gallery, yet the whole place feels like it’s the type of museum Haiti is missing.

Every inch of space within the building is covered in art. Paintings adorn the walls, marking Haiti’s history with each vibrant stroke. The hallways are crammed with paintings stacked one in front the other, and lean next to tables also piled high with unframed paintings. You could spend hours within the gallery and still only manage to have seen a fraction of the art contained within.

Haitian art is as varied as the people. Some art is strongly influenced by voodoo imagery, and looks like it belongs on the cover of a Funkadelic album.  Other art paints in great reverence Haiti’s historical leaders. And some art invokes the tragicomedy that is often the life in Haiti, taking everyday universal scenes and placing them in the Haitian context, such as this one of a woman cheating on her husband with a younger man. And, still, other art tells more when lined up in a series.

In the foyer of the room is one such painting. The Three Wise Men feature prominently on the back wall of the gallery’s main room in the lower floor. An art critic could spend hours or pages describing in detail all the imagery within the painting. For now, to be basic while still maintaining the veil of an art connoisseur , we’ll focus just on the race. In short, the Three Wise Men are Black. Perhaps they’re meant to be a variety of ethnicities representing a historical aspect of Haiti’s culture (the arrival of the first wave of Libyan immigrants, for example?). At the same time, we can be sure that the Three Wise Men, depicted on their own, are not definitively white.

This painting set me on a path to look for more religious imagery, which we find in the image at the top of this article. As is shown, one sees the Virgin Mary surrounded by followers. Everyone in the painting is Black. It’s important to point this out, because in Haitian art, the person being revered or the person in power tends to be white. Whether it’s a depiction of a slave scene or simply of a woman’s beauty, the person at the center of the painting is usually white (or a very fair shade of Black). Yet here, everyone is the same color.

When it comes to Jesus, however, it seems everyone else is Black, leaving Jesus to standout more than what would be normally expected in a religious painting.  My favorite example of this in the gallery is a depiction of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. The scene contains onlookers in the foreground, all Black, as well as John the Baptist, also Black, baptizing Jesus, white. The message is uncanny, but the true gravity of the piece takes a moment to sink in. Finally, it hits: you mean even in a Black country where the people and important figures in religious history are depicted as Black, Jesus still has to be white?

 

For any Christian painting, I imagine the image of Jesus would figure prominently. Yet, this painting has added an extra layer of “heavenliness, ” by depicting Jesus as white amidst a sea of Black followers and a Black baptist.

In another painting, depicting the miraculous catch of fish from the book of Luke, Jesus and the disciples are painted white, though admittedly the fish are a variety of colors. And, after further scrutiny, perhaps Jesus isn’t white exactly? After all, Haiti does boast a sizable and influential Libyan population. Perhaps the images in this painting bear homage to middle eastern influence?

Yet, as is always the case in Haiti, there are no stereotypes. In another hallway I stumbled into not one, but two images of Jesus painted Black, both of the same scene: the last supper. In this scene, taken on by two different artists, Jesus is undeniably Black, as are his disciples. Why this is I’m not sure. Perhaps because it’s a scene behind closed doors where no one else can look. Perhaps it’s a moment where Jesus can be equal to his disciples, thus not having a need for whiteness. After all, the disciples were his closest compatriots. What need would one have to “put on airs,” as is often said of those assuming a perceived identity of whiteness around others?

Still, the answer may be as simple as artistic preference. Some artists wish to paint him white, others Black, others a melange of colors. All the same, I find it rather peculiar to paint solely Jesus as white when all those around him are Black.  And yet… I would absolutely buy the painting, if not for the story alone.

Sophia Stewart:

"The Matrix" Lawsuit

- Conspiracy Or Hoax?

Features  by Andre Seewood | December 10, 2011 

The story goes that in 1986 African-American female writer Sophia Stewart submitted a manuscript titled, THE THIRD EYE, to a science fiction comic book contest that was sponsored by the Wachowski Brothers from an ad that was placed in a national magazine. She never heard from them and her manuscript was never returned. Years later, in 1999, when the first MATRIX film was released Stewart recognized that her work had been appropriated by the Wachowski Brothers and she filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement in 2003 against them, Warner Bros., Joel Silver, Village Roadshow Entertainment, James Cameron, Gale Ann Hurd and THE TERMINATOR franchise. Now every three or four years after she had filed the lawsuit contradictory stories are circulated on the internet about her either having won the lawsuit (in 2004) or that the lawsuit had been dismissed (in 2005). And just as recently as December 10th 2011, other websites including www.brandnewz.com have announced that Miss. Stewart has won a multi-billion dollar settlement for copyright infringement against the MATRIX franchise and THE TERMINATOR franchise. She allegedly won her lawsuit based on the fact that,”according to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original [Matrix] film, in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement.” (1)

 

This should be breaking news around the world, but mainstream media outlets will not report on this story and Miss. Stewart gives a fascinating account as to why. She says that,”The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because Warner Bros. parent company is AOL-Time Warner… this giant owns 95 percent of the media… let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business… New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, People magazine, CNN News, Extra, Celebrity Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow, and many, many more! They are not going to report on themselves. They have been suppressing my case for years.” (2)

Now one of the main strengths of any conspiracy theory is the persuasive power of those that believe in it to discredit the institutions we have to prove or disprove the validity of a theory. Whether it is the discrediting of the Warren Commission (JFK), the CDC (HIV as a racist plot) or the 9/11 Commission, the strength of any conspiracy theory rests upon our inherent distrust of an institution which can then allow the believers to discredit that institution and present their theory as the truth. In Stewart’s case that institution that must be discredited is the media (in the form of the gigantic AOL-Time Warner conglomerate), which is ironically the very institution from whom she is seeking monetary damages. Stewart’s claim that AOL-Time Warner owns 95% percent of the media is patently untrue. We’ve got to leave some room for Viacom, Clear Channel, and the others. Moreover The LA Times, one of the newspapers she claims as part of the suppression of her case, did actually run a story on her and her lawsuit on July 31 2005 called, ”The Billion Dollar Myth,” by Kemp Powers. (3)

But a major source of trouble in believing Stewart’s claim of copyright infringement is found in her very own testimony.

For one thing, each time her story is told, whether in her own words or paraphrased by others the copyright dates for her original manuscript, THE THIRD EYE change from either 1981 or 1983. These copyright discrepancies are significant because she expanded her lawsuit to include THE TERMINATOR franchise where the first film was released in 1984. But nowhere in her tale of infringement does she reveal how Cameron or Hurd got a hold of her original manuscript. Moreover, Cameron and Hurd were already sued by prolific science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison who claimed that THE TERMINATOR drew from material from Ellison’s SOILDER and DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND episodes of the ABC television show, THE OUTER LIMITS (1963-1965). Ellison won his lawsuit despite the objections of James Cameron. I have seen SOLDIER episode of THE OUTER LIMITS and the similarity of the story to THE TERMINATOR is uncanny and supports Ellison’s claim of copyright infringement, but this real verifiable evidence brings us back to Stewart. Why didn’t she sue Cameron and Hurd in 1984 when THE TERMINATOR was first released? The original Terminator was a box office blockbuster when it was released in October of 1984 and I’m sure she would have noticed her material in this film at the time of its release as she did subsequently with the original release of THE MATRIX in 1999.

Another troubling aspect of her story is the mysterious ad that she alleges the Wachowski Brothers placed in a “national magazine” and that she responded to in 1986. As stated in the L.A. Times article by Kemp Powers, ”In 1986 Andy [Wachowski] was 18 and Larry [Wachowski] was a 24 year old college student,” so evidence of their ability and interest to place an ad in a national magazine, as well as, their ability to publish a comic book needs to be revealed. Stewart’s story never tells us what national magazine or the name of the comic book contest so that any real verifiable evidence is left wanting. With no evidence, her allegations of a conspiracy further circumvents any of the institutions that we have to investigate the validity of the conspiracy against her.

But what is it that makes Stewart’s lawsuit and the alleged conspiracy against a Black writer so compelling that every two or three years an announcement circulates throughout the internet that she has won her case? Is it that her claim of theft and financial injustice by a white controlled corporation reaches deep into the African-American psyche which itself holds on to the theft of our ancestors from Africa and the injustice (financial, physical and spiritual) we have suffered within a white controlled nation throughout history? The list of stolen Black copyrights, patents and ideas by whites –those that can be proven and those that can be believed- is as long as your belief in America as a system of oppression against African-Americans. Yet Stewart’s lawsuit and conspiracy returns again and again like a light-skinned relative that everyone whispers could pass for White at a Black family reunion. The answer is like a family secret that grandmother will carry to her grave.

My heart aches for Stewart because in one sense I want her claims to be true. I want her to win her case as a symbol of vindication and justice for all that Hollywood has taken and keeps from us as African-Americans. But to truly believe her conspiracy theory and her lawsuit I have to pretend to be ignorant. I have to pretend to be ignorant of the fact that Cameron and Hurd were already successfully sued by prolific science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison concerning work he had completed in the 1960’s. To believe in Stewart, I have to be ignorant of the fact that alternate reality/computer simulacrum themes had already been pursued in the works of prolific science-fiction author Phillip K. Dick (TOTAL RECALL/BLADE RUNNER/A SCANNER DARKLY) and specifically in the work of science-fiction author Daniel F. Galouye. In fact Galouye’s book, COUNTERFEIT WORLD (SIMULCRON 3) was the basis for the late great German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s rediscovered masterpiece, WORLD ON A WIRE (1973). Fassbinder’s film followed similar themes of a computer controlled alternate reality complete with headgear brain attachments and predated THE MATRIX by 26 years. To believe Stewart, I have to be ignorant of the fact that if you cut footage out of the final theatrical release of your film (before that film is ever seen by the public) that a lawsuit for copyright infringement can be won on the basis of what is left out of a film as opposed to what is actually in the film. And finally, to believe Stewart I have to pretend to be ignorant and that’s just something I’m not willing to do, regardless of how I feel against the white controlled entertainment industry.

But I must confess that all of this has been written to reveal and support one substantial truth; that whether we believe that Sophia Stewart was the victim of a vast Global corporate conspiracy or that she is another victimized genius whose work was stolen and unjustly exploited: the substantial truth is that as African-Americans we have got to make and distribute our own motion pictures. Hollywood was not invented for African-Americans. We not only have to start creating/supporting/and developing our own content, but we must also develop and control the distribution of that content on a global platform. If I were to believe that Sophia Stewart is the genius that she claims, then the greater tragedy is found in the fact that her work could not have been produced by any Black filmmaker between the years of 1981 – 1986. In fact no Black filmmaker today would have the power to produce a visionary science fiction film with a 100 million dollar budget within the severely curtained production/development deals allowed for African-American filmmakers by Hollywood. Not even the golden boy, Tyler Perry, could pull this off or for that matter would want to produce such a picture as narrowed and limited as he is by what he thinks African-Americans want to see. And this is the truth whether Stewart’s lawsuit is a conspiracy or a hoax.

Notes

1) “Black Author wins The Matrix Copyright Infringement Case” Download date 12/10/11 http://www.brandnewz.com/?p=3702

2) Ibid

3) “The Billion Dollar Myth” by Kemp Powers, Download date 12/10/11. http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/31/magazine/tm-mothermatrix31

Andre Seewood is the author of SLAVE CINEMA: The Crisis of the African-American in Film. Pick up a copy of the book via Amazon.com HERE.

| Film Trailer

Soundtrack For A Revolution (featuring The Roots) 

Although the film has been around for some time, the trailer for Soundtrack To A Revolution has now been released with an official release date of January 31st 2012. The film is a documentary about the music that accompanied the civil rights movement and the importance it played in the struggle for equality that African Americans experienced in the 1950/1960s.

Featuring The Roots, with Black Thought getting his sing song on, but the wider soundtrack will include names such as John Legend, Anthony Hamilton, Angie Stone, Joss Stone, Mary Mary and legends such as The Blind Boys of Alabama and Richie Havens, check the trailer out below – in which The Roots perform the freedom song “Turn Me Around” with TV On The Radio, – plus an unconfirmed tracklisting of the soundtrack.

Tenative tracklist for Soundtrack For A Revolution:
1. Wade In The Water – Angie Stone
2. Eyes On The Prize – Joss Stone
3. This Maybe The Last Time – Anthony Hamilton & The Blind Boys Of Alabama
4. We Shall Not Be Moved – Mary Mary
5. Will The Circle Be Unbroken – Richie Havens
6. Turn Me Around – The Roots & TV On The Radio
7. Woke Up This Am – John Legend
8. The State Of Mississippi – Wyclef Jean
9. We Shall Over Come – Anthony Hamilton, Blind Boys of Alabama, Joss Stone, The Roots, Mary Mary & Richie Havens

[via Okayplayer]