Zhana in Conversation with Lama Rangdrol

Lama Rangdrol is one of just a handful of Black/African American Tibetan lamas.  In his film, Festival Cancelled due to  Heavy Rain (see below), he speaks about growing up in the 'hood during the 1960s, where as a young Black man he was hunted, and  his pilgrimage to Cambodia, where, at Angkor Wat, he found ancient African images that remain undamaged.  

The tiny Buddhist country of Cambodia was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War - a war in which the front line was called "Soulville" because there were so many young Black men fighting there. 

I was very privileged to speak with Lama Rangdrol, and he explained more here.  

Lama Rangdrol and his friends in the U.S., young Black men and women, faced a long list of seemingly insurmountable problems in what he terms the "urban killing zone".  He managed to escape; his friends all ended up dead or incarcerated.

Go here to watch Lama Rangdrol's film Festival Cancelled due to  Heavy Rain. 

What are your thoughts?  How long have young Black men been hunted by the police?  And why?  Please leave your answers below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

Go here for readings from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.  

Go here for NVC resources.  

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2021.  

 

 

 

 

 

10 Years of Black Cinema Club

October 2021 marks ten years of the Black Cinema Club (BCC 10).  In honour of the tenth anniversary of their screening of Black films from Africa, the Caribbean, the United States, Britain and Europe, they are showing a whole programme of Black films.  

All of these screenings are being held online, so you can join us and enjoy them wherever you are in the world.  See you there!  BCC 10 presents:  

Friday 1st October:  Finding Fela. 

Filmmaker Alex Gibney uses period interviews and performances plus highlights of the Broadway production of `Fela!' to tell the story of Afrobeat music pioneer Fela Kuti.

Saturday 2nd October:  The Wood.   

Three old friends -- Mike (Omar Epps), Roland (Taye Diggs) and Slim (Richard T. Jones) -- recount memories of their shared childhood in Inglewood, Calif., as they prepare for Roland's wedding to his fiancée, Lisa (LisaRaye). When the groom goes missing without a word, Mike and Slim struggle to find their nervous friend and return him to his impatient bride before the wedding begins. Along the way, they continue to swap stories about lessons learned during their awkward teenage years. 

Sunday 3rd October:  1804:  The Hidden History of Haiti. 

This documentary film about the untold history of the Haitian Revolution was produced by the creator of the best-selling Hidden Colors film series.  1804 goes in-depth about the four principal players who were instrumental in Haiti's independence: Makandal, Dutty Bookman, Toussaint Louvature, and Jean-Jacques Dessalines. This documentary gives a compelling look into the strategies, the motivation and the mindset that led to Haiti being the only enslaved  population who successfully overthrew their oppressors.

Tuesday 5th October:  I Ain't Scared of You, a Tribute to Bernie Mac.  

Friday 8th October:   Summer of Soul, or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised. 

Saw this one a few weeks ago, and it is definitely worth watching again.  In the summer of 1965, a whole lot of talented Black people performed for FREE in NYC.  The lineup included Stevie Wonder (on drums!), Gladys Knight and the Pips, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone and many more.  Be there!  

Sunday 10th October:  Sankofa.  

A model (Oyafunmike Ogunlano) on a photo shoot in Ghana encounters an old mystic (Kofi Ghanaba) who transports her into the past, where she becomes a slave.

Saturday 16th October:  Really Love.  

Isiah is an up-and-coming painter under the tutelage of Yusef Davis, hoping to impress Chenai Hungwe to potentially launch his career. However, upon meeting Stevie Richmond, a friend of his boy Nick’s girlfriend Mecca, he gets a little distracted. Yet, as Yusef told him, you have to live to find your muse, and with Stevie, Isaiah does live. But with Stevie being a prominent up-and-coming lawyer, soon to finish school, and getting offers across the United States, while both have made time for each other in DC, will their relationship survive when distance adds an additional strain to it?  

Sunday 17th October:  Hidden Colors.  

Hidden Colors is a documentary about the real and untold history of people of color around the globe. This film discusses some of the reasons the contributions of African and aboriginal people have been left out of the pages of history. Traveling around the country, the film features scholars, historians, and social commentators who uncovered such amazing facts about things such as: The original image of Christ; The true story about the Moors; The original people of Asia; The great west African empires; The presence of Africans in America before Columbus; The real reason slavery was ended And much more.  

Monday 18th October: The Banker.  

Samuel L. Jackson stars in this true story about two men who decided to open a bank in Georgia in the 1950s, when Black people were not even allowed to set foot inside a bank. 

Revolutionary businessmen Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie) and Joe Morris (Samuel L. Jackson) devise an audacious and risky plan to take on the racist establishment of the 1960s by helping other African Americans pursue the American dream. Along with Garrett's wife Eunice (Nia Long), they train a working class white man, Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hoult), to pose as the rich and privileged face of their burgeoning real estate and banking empire - while Garrett and Morris pose as a janitor and a chauffeur. 

Tuesday 19th October:  Rue Cases Negres  

It's been so many years since I've seen this charming, delightful film from Euzhan Palcy.  

In the French colony of Martinique in the 1930s, rambunctious teenager Jose (Garry Cadenat) lives in a rundown shack in a small farm village with his doting grandmother, M'Man Tine (Darling Legitimus). While studying diligently at the local school, Jose also learns at the side of wise village elder Medouze (Douta Seck), who tells him first-hand of the lives of African slaves. When Jose wins a scholarship to a prestigious high school in the capital, he brings the wisdom of the village with him.  

Thursday 21st October:  Out of Darkness.  

Out of Darkness explores the Nubian/Kushitic origins of Nile Valley Civilization, contact between Africa and the Americas since the times of antiquity, as well as the influence of the Moors in Europe leading to intellectual Renaissance. In addition, the film will analyze the history of modern day racism, the concept of "white supremacy," the impact of Hip Hop as a social movement, and the idea of nationhood.                          

There are more which have not listed here.  Check out BCC 10 for details.  

Go here for lots more Black history blogs.  

What's your favourite Black film?  Or what are your top 10?  Please comment below and please share this with your networks.  

Happy Black History Month/African Heritage Month!  

 

Black History Blogs Part 2

Chadwick Boseman Black Panther

I have posted lots more since my previous list of Black history blogs.  I have linked to some of them below.  

Does Black History Matter? Interview with Brother Tony Warner of Black History Walks

Who Were the Scottsboro Nine?

Spree of Executions during Trump’s Final Days

Black Jeopardy with Tom Hanks

Black Jeopardy with Chadwick Boseman

Injustice: The Film the Police Tried to Ban – Interview with Ken Fero

Lockdown Learning: African History Quizzes

Lockdown Learning: Black History Quizzes

What Does the Black Panther Movie Tell Us about Black People?  

Black Panther's African History + the Books to Prove It

100 Years Since the Destruction of the Black Wall Street 

What can we learn from Black history and how can we use this to create a better future?  Please post your answers below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

Go here for my list of Black/African heritage museums in the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.  

 

Small Axe: The Mangrove at the BBC

The Real Mangrove NIne

Imagine you are sitting in a local Caribbean cafe, enjoying a meal with your friends and loved ones, and the police come in and smash the place up.  I heard about the Mangrove  many years ago.  

 

This is the first of four films which The BBC will be screening on the BBC under the heading of "Small Axe".  

These films by Steve McQueen, who directed Twelve Years a Slave, will explore the experience of Black people in Britain.  

All the proprietor, Frank Crichlow, wanted was to run a Caribbean restaurant which reflected his culture and that of his local community.  But the racism of the police turned it into a battleground.  They are shown brutally trying to close down the Mangrove and even assaulting Frank Crichlow in the courtroom. 

This film, The Mangrove, is still available on iplayer.  This article about the Mangrove and the Mangrove Nine contains footage of the events described.  It also gives background information, including the fact that drugs, which apparently came from a police lab, were found on the premises.  

Black activists, including Darcus Howe, got involved in the struggle around the Mangrove.  This was an education for many people, not least Frank Crichlow.  

If you have not seen this film, you definitely need to see it.  I hope it will be shown internationally.  

Plus journalist Peter Kellner talks about giving evidence at the Old Bailey trial of the Mangrove Nine. 

See also:  Injustice:  The Film the Police Tried to Ban.  

Plus, we discussed television showing films about the Black experience here.  

Please share this with your networks and please comment below.  Thanks.  

 

Success Strategies with Zhana: What's on Your Mind?

Kamala Harris

At the time of recording, the result of the U.S. election had just been announced - a few minutes before we went on air, we found out Joe Biden was the new President, with Kamala Harris his new VP.  Listen below for more. 

What do you think about this?  What prospects does a Biden Presidency hold for our communities? 

Did you listen to our Election Day Roundtable?  Or our Post-Election Roundtable? 

Meanwhile, here in the UK, we are back in lockdown due to the coronavirus covid-19.  How do you feel about this?  Will it work to stem the rise of covid-19?  And what will it do to the economy? 

 

This scientist says the pandemic is over in the UK.  I find this fascinating.  What do you think? 

Our caller from Ghana told us the President of Tanzania had tested a papaya - and it had been found covid-positive.  

Plus:  Before Black History Month in the UK, why was there so much Black programming?  What are your thoughts?  

Go here to listen. 

Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.  Thanks.  

 

Black History: Lupita and the Warrior Women

Black History the Dora Milaje

People all over the world enjoyed the Black Panther movie. The film broke loads of box office records – and so it should have. As Lupita Nyong'o states, Black Panther was one of the highest-grossing films of all time.  I personally have seen it three times – so far. 
 

Black Panther featured the Dora Milaje – an army of women warriors whose responsibility it was to protect the King – the Black Panther.

These women were amazing – beautiful, fierce, brave – they showed incredible courage and skill.  Lupita Nyong'os character was not a member of the Dora Milaje - she played a spy who was also fierce and beautiful, and who also displayed some very impressive fighting. In the end, she put on the Dora Milaje armour and fought the battle for control of Wakanda.  

Last night, Lupita presented a programme on Channel 4 as part of their Black history season.  She discovered actual, historical African warrior women who had the job of protecting the King. It is online for the next 30 days, so I urge you to watch it if you have not done so already, or even if you have.  

Black History Walks gave a presentation last year about the historical basis of the Black Panther movie, in which Brother T. gave several examples of warrior women in Africa, who protected their monarchs.

In Dahomey, now known as Benin, Lupita discovered an historical army made up of thousands of women warriors - the Agoji.  The Agoji were press-ganged into serving, went through rigorous training and were required to obey the King.  They fought the European powers, particularly the French, who had invaded and occupied the area (and many other territories around the African continent).  

Although the knowledge about the existence of this female army is inspiring, we learned that they were also required by the King to invade other territories, notably the Yoruba territory in what is now Nigeria.  They abducted many men and women, and some of the women were enslaved in Dahomey.  Both men and women were also sold into Transatlantic slavery under the orders of the Kings.  Thus, it is also a shameful history.  

Again, watch it while it is still available online.   

Go here for more African history blogs.  

 

Spike Lee Wants Us to Respect Our White Allies

I am so glad Spike Lee has said this.  And, of course, he is right.  There have always been white people who were committed to justice.  And there have always been white people who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives due to their commitment to justice. 

During slavery, the people who owned the safe houses in the Underground Railroad were often white. 

Having said that, a lot of the violence that's going on now is no different from what happened during slavery. 

During apartheid in South Africa, some white people were imprisoned and risked losing their lives for challenging the apartheid regime.  Many others protested against apartheid internationally. 

And in Jim Crow America, white people risked their lives on the Freedom Rides.  

So let's not forget our history.  

And always remember, WHITE PEOPLE ARE NOT OUR ENEMIES.  I'm sure you know this already.  

The enemy is group mentality.  

Racism, racial discrimination, racist violence, racial profiling, bigotry - these are all different ways of saying "group mentality".  And it's not just about race.  Everybody has some group mentality. 

White people often come with group mentality, and when they do, they are our enemies.  Group mentality is vicious. 

Go here to read what Spike has to say. 

Please leave your comments below and please share this with your networks. Thanks.

Black Panther's African History + the Books to Prove It

This is another highly enjoyable, engaging and educational event from London Black History Walks. If you want to learn about the practical, historical basis for The Black Panther Movie, take the opportunity to attend this event. 

Go here to read my review of The Black Panther Movie. 

And go here for the next event, on 28th April.  

I am not going to share all the knowledge Brother Tony dropped on us.  Instead, I will raise some of the questions he asked. 

What was the first superhero film produced by Marvel Studios?  Okay, I will give you that one.  Go here for the answer.  

Who is the richest superhero in the Marvel universe?  

Is there a real-life precedent for a rare precious mineral which is found in abundance in an African country?  

Who first used the term "Black Panther" and used a black panther logo?  (It's probably not who you think.)  

Are there real-life examples of an African king or leader having an all-female bodyguard?  

What African language does the Black Panther speak?  

What is another name for the British Museum?  

What precious African artefacts are held in the British Museum and other collections?  Again, I'll give you this one - go here for one answer- one of many. 

Go here for more Black history and African history blogs.  


Please share this post with your networks and please leave your comments below.  Thanks. 

What Does The Black Panther Movie Tell Us about Black People?

The Black Panther Warrior Women

The Black Panther movie tells us a great deal about Black/African people, psychology, traditions and potential.  I saw the film last night and I enjoyed it immensely. It is doing brilliantly at the box office, breaking all kinds of records, as well it should. 

 

Lest we forget, the first Marvel comic films were the Blade trilogy, which did so well at the box office that they enabled Marvel to bankroll all the other superhero films they subsequently produced, yet, somehow, they have been left out of the Marvel narrative.

Further, lest we forget, Black filmmakers, notably Oscar Michaux, have been making films giving positive depictions of Black filmmakers since at least 1919.

I have a few quibbles about The Black Panther, as follows (this contains spoilers): 

• I do not like to see two Black men duking it out as they do in the film, albeit displaying awesome fighting skills;  

•  I particularly disliked seeing Black men and women fighting each other on the battlefield, and I'm not even sure what they were fighting about; 

• The brother from U.S. appeared conflicted – he addresses a white woman as “Coloniser” and makes reference to the plunder of African artefacts, yet he partners with a white thief of, and dealer in, such artefacts;

• Perhaps my strongest objection is to Martin Freeman's role – he plays a duplicitous, double-dealing CIA man (in other words, a CIA man) who allies with the Wakandans and, at the end of the film, is shown in the United Nations like some kind of benevolent paternalistic figure.

Having said all that, the visuals are amazing, the storyline and the depiction of African people as masters of technology are – well, masterful, and The Black Panther offers us a largely positive view of African people and traditions. The Wakandans, from the fictional African state of Wakanda, are depicted as kings, queens and heroes. And the movie is highly entertaining.  
 
The Black Panther is a dazzling sci-fi romp.  I am old enough to remember a time when Black people did not exist in the future, i.e. in science fiction.  So I greatly enjoy this film's strong characters. 

The characters' inner and outer conflicts mirror, to a certain extent, similar conflicting emotions within and among people from the Diaspora and the African Continent. I found this fascinating. 

 

One thing I particularly liked was that the men, and the women, were so beautiful to look at and so strong, brave and fearless. These sistas looked awesome. The characters carried themselves with great pride and dignity and the sistas were warriors, fully ready to throw down. 

 

I need to see this film again, soon, to gain clarity and because it is such great fun!  If you have not seen it yet, see it! 

What did you think of The Black Panther movie?  Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below. Thanks.  

 

Black History Blogs

MLK voting 1964

I have posted many Black history posts on this blog and I think it's useful to list them.  So you can find many of them listed below (in no particular order).

Plus click here for some of my African history blog posts.

Please share these with your networks, and particularly with parents, children and young people, and teachers and schools.  Please leave your comments on the individual blog posts.

Please note, I DO NOT distinguish between African history and Black history. Its all the history of African people on the Continent and in the Diaspora. If you are familiar with my work, such as my More Black Success ebooks, you now that all of my work has a global

Slavery by Another Name

African focus. Whether we are in Africa, in the Caribbean, in Europe, in the United States or the Americas – wherever we are, we are African people.

But since I know that some people make a distinction between Black people and African people, and because I know this distinction is important to some people, I have listed them separately. Remember, we are one people, and it is all the history of African people. And remember, too, EVERY MONTH IS BLACK

Josephine Baker

HISTORY MONTH.

Black History Blogs

Black History Presentation: The Black Image

The Black History of X-Men

Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

African Hair before Bondage

Why Black History Matters

Why Black History Matters Part 2

Aimé Césaire Centennial at the Schomburg

What Can We Learn from Our History?

Samuel L. Jackson on 12 Years a Slave

70th Anniversary of D-Day

Break the Silence Congo Week

Remembering The Somme

The Negro Soldier

Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

Ida B. Wells – A Passion for Justice

Mary Seacole Strikes Back

Slavery by Another Name

MLK's “Lost” Newcastle Speech

MLK: Black Is Beautiful

Harriet, A Choreopoem

Black in London

Celebrating Black History

Healing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Is Black Really Beautiful?

Soul Survivors Slave Narratives

Civil Rights, Fannie Lou Hamer, Black Women and Hysterectomy

Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

Gil Scott Heron: Message to the Messengers

You Couldn't Even Try on Shoes 

Black History Film:  Freedom Riders  

Click here for some African history blogs.   

Please share these with your networks and please leave your comments on the individual posts.  Thanks. 

African History: Invasion 1897

My blog post, a review of the film Invasion 1897, was published on Africa on the Blog some time ago.  Click here to read it.   

You have probably heard of the Benin bronzes - artefacts which were stolen from Africa and added to collections around the world.  Some of the Benin bronzes are on display in the British Museum.   

The Benin bronzes contain the record of a people and its history and culture.  

Invasion 1897 portrays the invasion and colonisation of Benin in West Africa in 1897.  Benin was known for being a very advanced civilisation with its own unique culture.  It is now part of Nigeria.  

Click here to read my blog post.  Please leave a comment on my blog, and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

For more about the devastating long-term effects of European colonisation on African countries, see: Black People in the First World War.

Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey on the Importance of History

Marcus Garvey

To quote Marcus Garvey on history, "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots".

To quote Malcolm X, History is a people's memory, and without a memory, man is demoted to the lower animals.

We have been fed many lies and distortions about our history in order to make us forget who we are.  Our history has been marginalised, ignored and buried.  It us up to us to dig it up, uncover it and share it. 

Check out some of my recent Black history/African history blogs:


To find out about how Martin Luther Kind and Malcolm X influenced sci-fi movies, check out The Black History of the X-Men. 


African History Film:  Invasion 1897 - this links to some of my other African history blogs. 

Please share these with your networks.  And if you like my blog posts, please leave a comment.  Thanks. 

Is Black Really Beautiful?

Below is my review of the new documentary Beauty Is, from director Toyin Agbetu of Ligali.  

Beauty Is explores the relationship people of the African Diaspora, and all African people,  have with beauty.  

Our quest for beauty influences:  
- our health
- our economics
- our relationships and
- our self-esteem

and the film explores all of those areas.  

This is a very important film, and we need to keep having these conversations.  

There is a link to the Ligali anti-skin-bleaching campaign below.  

I will be interviewing the Director of Beauty Is, Toyin Agbetu, soon, so stay tuned!  

You can listen to my review below.  

Find Additional Books Podcasts with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

 

Click here for Natural Hair/Nappturality. 

Click here for The Key to Confidence and Self-Esteem.  

Click here for the Ligali anti-skin-bleaching campaign. 

 Click here for my Black Success audios. 

Click here for my analysis of the film 12 Years a Slave.

What Can We Learn from Our History?

The Oscar-winning film 12 Years a Slave has been criticised, by Samuel L. Jackson among others, for dwelling on the past rather than dealing with the present.  

But 12 Years a Slave tells us a great deal about the kinds of difficulties and challenges still faced by Black people, and Black communities.  Its clear and graphic portrayal of the violence and brutality inflicted on African people during slavery depict ways in which Black people have been mentally and emotionally scarred by the slavery experience, and by colonisation in Africa.  This continues to have long-term consequences for us and for our families and communities. 

The film may not tell us much that is new, but I suspect there are many people, particularly young people, who are not aware of the history depicted in this film.  Click here to read my review of 12 Years a Slave. 

Samuel L. Jackson Says "12 Years A Slave" Is Proof That Hollywood Still Isn't Ready To Deal with Racism

Samuel L. Jackson is quoted as saying that 12 Years a Slave is proof that Hollywood only wants to deal with the past - not the present.  

I have to disagree.  12 Years a Slave is not just about the past.  There are a lot of lessons in this film about the roots of modern-day racism.  This is one reason I am so glad the film was made, and why I think everyone should see it.  In order to understand the present, we need to have knowledge of the past. 

Jackson went on to say, "I'm glad 12 Years got made and it's wonderful that people are seeing it and there is another view of what happened in America".  But this is missing the point - it's not just what happened in America.  Similar things happened in Africa and the Caribbean, and we are still dealing with the consequences of this now.  Click here to read more of Jackson's comments.  

Click here for my analysis of 12 Years a Slave.   The brutalization inflicted on Black peple during slavery still has implications and still affects us today. 

Click here to read my review of The Black Jacobins, C.L.R. James's classic study of slavery and revolution in the French Caribbean.  

You want a context for what happened to Trayvon?  Read The Black Jacobins, an analysis of the Haitian Revolution, and see 12 Years a Slave.   

Want to know why a reporter confused Samuel L. Jackson with Lawrence Fishburne?  There is a scene that relates directly to this in 12 Years a Slave. 

As African people, we need to get over this tribalistic view of the world.  We are facing similar challenges, wherever we are, and we share a common history.  This Black History Month/ African Heritage Month, let us remember our common history and work towards our common goals.