Anderson@Large

New Billie Holiday Documentary Now Showing

Billie Holiday is an international icon. She also holds a special place in my heart. During a particularly rough patch, I started every day listening to “Good Morning Heartache.”

You can imagine my dismay when I moved to Philadelphia and noticed she didn’t have a plaque on the Walk of Fame. So I did what I do.

Months later, I was all smiles when Lady Day’s plaque was installed on Avenue of the Arts.

I recently watched the powerful new documentary Billie via an exclusive screening by the 92nd Street Y.

Billie breathes life into nearly 50-year-old audiotapes of the hundreds of interviews journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl conducted with Holiday’s contemporaries including Count Basie, Carmen McRae, Tony Bennett, singer Sylvia Syms and drummer Jo Jones. Archival materials and first-hand accounts shed light on systemic racism, racial segregation and the undertold story of her commitment to racial justice.

The civil rights pioneer said “Strange Fruit” was her personal protest. She performed the song at the end of every performance for 20 years despite FBI and police harassment. Bassist Charles Mingus said, “She was fighting equality before Martin Luther King. … That might be why the cops were against her too, not just junk.”

The special screening was followed by a Q&A with director James Erskine and executive producer Michele Smith, manager of the Billie Holiday Estate.

Billie is now showing in theaters and on virtual cinema. For updates, go here.

2019 BlackStar Film Festival

The 8th Annual BlackStar Film Festival will be held August 1-4, 2019, in Philadelphia. The film festival “is an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and of global communities of color, showcasing films by black, brown and indigenous people from around the world.”

The four-day festival features 115 films, eight panels and conversations, workshops, pitch session, marketplace and opening night party. Highlights include BOSS: The Black Experience in Business, directed by Stanley Nelson, and the Philadelphia premiere of When I Get Home, directed and edited by Solange Knowles, and The Apollo, the story of the iconic cultural mecca.

I am particularly interested in the panel discussions and the sneak preview of Hip Hop: The Songs that Shook the World, co-executive produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter. The six-part AMC documentary series will explore the socioeconomic and cultural conditions that gave “voice to the voiceless and the have-nots.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Do The Right Thing. Filmmaker Spike Lee and Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, will be in conversation about art, social justice and social change.

For the full schedule and ticket information, visit BlackStar Film Fest.

27th Philadelphia Film Festival

The 27th annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicks off this week with the screening of Ben is Back starring Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges as mother and son who are grappling with a history of addiction.

The story is ripped from the headlines as Philadelphia struggles to deal with the opioid drama unfolding on the streets of Kensington.

Executive Director J. Andrew Greenblatt said in a statement:

From our powerful, socially relevant and incredibly timely Opening Night screening of Ben is Back to the definitive look at Philadelphia music legend Teddy Pendergrass for our Closing Night selection, and the incredibly diverse line-up in-between, the films premiering in this year’s Festival will be discussed and remembered for a long time to come.

Artistic Director Michael Lerman added:

Andrew and I have been doing this together for ten years and I love that we continue to find fresh, unique films that delight and challenge audiences. I'm so proud of the program the team has put together and I can't wait to share the adventure we have in store for you.

What’s in store is a lineup of more than 100 films over 11 days. As a curator of art, technology and social change content, my must-see films include:

• Studio 54
• If Beale Street Could Talk
• The Price of Everything
• Bodied
• General Magic
• Empathy, Inc.
• Green Book

The film is based on a true friendship. Art also imitates life. Before passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African American motorists used the “Green Book” travel guide to vacation without humiliation.

The Closing Night film, Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me, tells the untold story of Philadelphia’s legendary R&B singer whose “For Women Only” concerts were the stuff of, well, legends.

To view the full schedule and purchase tickets, go here.

New Philly Schools Documentary is a Backpack Full of Crap

Halloween came early in Philadelphia. A new documentary wants to trick folks into believing that “alternatives,” i.e., charter schools, “compromise [traditional public schools’] ability to deliver quality education to all students.” The film, “Backpack Full of Cash,” premiered at the Philadelphia Film Festival on October 22nd.

I skipped the screening. I didn’t want to be spooked by the ranting of the usual suspects.

Besides, I believe the money should follow the student. Parents seek out “alternatives” because traditional public schools are not delivering quality education to their children.

NewsWorks reported:

Narrated by Oscar winner Matt Damon, the film wastes little time revealing its point of view. Damon, a well-documented skeptic of what critics call “corporate” education reform, begins the documentary with a dark warning:

“A battle is underway over who should control public education,” he says. Parents, teachers and activists are up against a well-organized coalition headed by business leaders and conservatives.”

Yeah whatever, dude. Tell that crap to John King, Acting Secretary of Education. Prior to joining the Department of Education, Dr. King was a co-founder of Roxbury (Massachusetts) Preparatory Charter School.

Dr. King recently spoke before the National Press Club. During the Q&A, he said, “I think any arbitrary cap on the growth of high-performing charters is a mistake in terms of our goal of trying to improve opportunities for all kids.” BOOM!

The producers of “Backpack Full of Cash” take creative license with the facts. But the fact is, charters work.

In an essay published in Essence magazine, singer and songwriter John Legend wrote:

Charter public schools are not the solution to every problem that’s plaguing public education. The NAACP is right to raise some questions over the practices of some individual charter schools. There are schools of all models - district, charter, magnet, private - that are failing to educate our kids properly and accountably. States and districts should hold all of these school types to high standards of accountability.

What’s shortsighted about the NAACP’s decision is that it’s ignoring the many successful charter schools that are delivering results for many communities. In New York City, third grade charter school students outscored students at district schools in math and in English. Charters here are closing the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged Black students and their more affluent white peers.

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Did You See ‘Jackie Robinson’ on PBS?

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play major league baseball.

Last week, PBS aired a two-part documentary, “Jackie Robinson.”

Like all African Americans, I admire Robinson’s achievements, and dignity and grace in the face of unrelenting racial taunts and threats. I was delighted when I stumbled upon the plaque in Brooklyn Heights noting the place where Brooklyn Dodgers President and General Manager Branch Rickey signed Robinson in 1945.

But somewhere along the way, I developed an inchoate impression the baseball icon had become an “Uncle Tom” after his playing days ended. Ken Burns’ film disabused me of that foolish notion. Robinson was a race-man who advocated for political empowerment:

I’m a black man first, an American second, and then I will support a political party—third.

Robinson was in the tradition of “Radical Republicans.” He understood that playing one-party politics in a two-party system would ensure black folks would not get a fair return on the investment of their political capital.

Robinson also pushed for economic empowerment. In 1964, he co-founded Freedom National Bank in Harlem. The bank later opened a branch in Bedford-Stuyvesant. I grew up in Bed-Stuy. As an emerging race-woman, I opened my first savings account at that branch. Frankly, I don’t remember whether I knew Robinson was associated with Freedom National Bank.

If you missed “Jackie Robinson,” you can watch full episodes online at PBS videos on demand.

Black History Month 2016

I celebrate black history 365. But outside the African American community, black history is recognized, if at all, in February, the shortest month.

The world-famous Apollo Theater has been “honoring the legacy, advancing the path” for 82 years. On Saturday, I attended their Open House Weekend, the theme of which was the arts and activism.

The event celebrated Apollo artists at the intersection of art and social justice. Artists like Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, James Brown, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Public Enemy and N.W.A.

Although I’ve viewed the YouTube video countless times, hearing Lady Day sing “Strange Fruit” on the big screen with the Apollo Theater’s sound system brought an immediacy to her performance.

The program included film clips, live performances and commentary by Billy Mitchell, aka “Mr. Apollo,” and legendary radio personalities Bob Slade and Imhotep Gary Byrd. It ended with the performers and audience singing “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” like it was 1969.

Jammin’ the Blues

Got the post-holiday blues? Well, you can ease into the new year with Jammin' the Blues, a 1944 short film in which several prominent jazz musicians got together for a rare filmed jam session.

In 1995, Jammin' the Blues was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry  by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”