The real SELMA

Post published:January 5, 2015
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My father grew up in Selma, Alabama, and my extended family gathered there for Thanksgiving in 2014. There were about 100 of us at Thanksgiving dinner. Our family has very deep roots in Selma and in Gee’s Bend (famous for the quilts in the Smithsonian). My aunts and uncles marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and our family has driven across that bridge a thousand times.

It’s amazing. I have been to Selma dozens of times in my life, and it holds a place in my heart that is mostly centered around homemade food, firecrackers, cousins, gravel roads, trailer parks, poverty, and simplicity. Seeing it as an adult, I see the effects that the bad PR of racism had on the city. Selma is impoverished, lacking jobs, has a high violent crime rate, full of empty storefronts, and still segregated.

I wanted to interview SELMA director Ava DuVernay after hearing her speak at the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta, but I was unable to interview her, because…well…she’s a Golden Globe nominee and I am not Barbara Walters or Oprah…Alas, here are some photos from my trip of the REAL Selma.

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Worth reading

Post published:December 29, 2014
Post category:on my radar
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"John is one in a growing multitude of ex-members. They’re sometimes called the de-churched. They have not abandoned their faith. They have not joined the also-growing legion of those with no religious affiliation—often called the Nones. Rather, John has joined the Dones." http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/177144-thom-schultz-rise-of-the-done-with-church-population.html#.VJ9_jD5llcP.facebook This is a shallow examination of "the chickens coming home to roost," but I like where…

“Even though arts leaders and arts journalists don’t always work in tandem, their goals are usually the same: to raise awareness of work that reflects our society”

Post published:December 19, 2014
Post category:Journalism
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"There's been a gradual erosion of local news reporting—not just in the arts, but in all areas—as media outlets have cut back on their reporting staffs," he says. "This doesn't mean that people aren't interested in their communities. It just shows that the economics of the digital age make it harder for local outlets to compete against national and international…

My Q&A with Clarence Davis, the NY Daily News’ first black photojournalist

Post published:December 12, 2014
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"In 1968, I was still working as a social worker and taking classes at Columbia University. At the time, the black students held a demonstration because they were not allowed to have black history classes at the university. They held a sit-in in Hamilton Hall, and I crawled through a window and locked myself in with the students for a…

“theatre is “a white invention, a European invention and white people go to it””

Post published:December 10, 2014
Post category:Diversity in the theater Theater
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Acclaimed British actress and director Janet Suzman probably wishes she could rewind back to the time where she said "Theatre is a white invention, a European invention, and white people go to it. It’s in their DNA. It starts with Shakespeare." Talk about a shit show. As someone who has worked doing marketing and public relations for non-profit theatres, I…

“American Sabor” shows how Latin rhythms shaped U.S. sound, at Atlanta History Center

Post published:December 5, 2014
Post category:Art My published work
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Check out my latest review for ArtsATL.com! "the exhibition makes the point that 20th-century Latin music in the United States was inherently political. A display of album cover art and videos throughout the show help tell that story. Unfortunately, the text doesn’t always do its part. Although a discussion of Cesar Chavez’s protests with the United Farm Workers of America…