Monthly Archives: May 2017

The monumental documentary created by filmmaker Branson Wright, “Pass Interference: The Davone Bess Story,” chronicles the life of one of Oakland’s most talented athletes, who shot to superstardom in the NFL. Then his life crumbled when he had to come face to face with his own mental illness. I caught up with filmmaker Branson Wright to talk about the motivation for doing the film, mental illness, a hometown hero and more ...

On April 13, the ​SF Sounds​ newspaper made the mistake of publishing an article written by Sarah Burchard, entitled ​“Bring on the Bayview​.” From what we’ve gathered, Sarah Burchard is a white person who is not from San Francisco. ​As people born and raised in San Francisco and Bayview residents, we find Sarah’s article overtly ignorant and flat-out offensive. The article blatantly disrespects residents and our experiences in the current social, economic and political climate.

“Cream” is a political and socially conscious short that is set in Oakland in 1968, at the time of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. The film deals with identity, self-respect and knowledge of self in a Black family setting. Check out filmmaker Alexandra Lebona as she talks about her film, “Cream,” which has been selected to screen at the San Francisco Black Film Festival.

When people mention horror, they may think of Alfred Hitchcock or Stephen King. Now we have Antwon Rollins, a Black man, whose mind is immersed in writing and shooting horror, but who is able to tell stories from a slightly different perspective: a common Black perspective. Check out “#Victim 505” at the San Francisco Black Film Fest, as well as check out the filmmaker Antwon Rollins as he talks to us about filmmaking and “#Victim 505.”

One of the best mystery films in the 2017 SF Black Film Festival this year is “Live a Little” by filmmaker David Jaffe, where the main character gets loaded, a fight spills from the bar, someone gets killed, and everyone is trying to put together the many pieces to figure out what happened. Suspense drives this feature film more than any other emotion. Check out filmmaker David Jaffe in his own words.

  REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR THE YERBA BUENA ISLAND(YBI) WESTSIDE BRIDGES AND YBI SOUTHGATE ROAD REALIGNMENT IMPROVEMENTS (RFP 16/17-09) Notice is hereby...

The men at Old Folsom State Prison in the ASU and Ad-Seg will begin a hunger strike on May 25 due to ongoing issues with the conditions of confinement that violate the Eighth Amendment. These prisoners are without food bowls, therefore having to eat out of ziplock bags. They have no cups, needing to drink water from an old milk carton. They have no TVs, no property at all. The mail is sometimes withheld for no reason – up to a month for some prisoners, for others even longer.

As the music is turned up, sounds of Curtis Mayfield blaring, a little child running wild, scenes of the movie “Super Fly” flash through my mind as I envision Keith “Kilo G” Perry with a suit coat on, head full of rollers, platforms, addicted to the fast life of the Black Frisco streets. Kilo G – Oct. 13, 1954, to March 30, 2017 – and his great works have come to an end this year. He leaves a huge legacy for his family, relatives and friends to cherish his memory.

The protagonists of cybercrime in the western part of the African continent are teenagers or even younger, high school students, boys, girls, men and women from all social classes. The majority of them for the past decade dropped out of school to devote themselves to cybercrime so as to earn a lot of money rapidly. Their office is the internet café, where they quarrel and joke in an ambiance of noisy excitement. When they earn money – up to millions of U.S. dollars – they loudly demand respect from everyone. They rent apartments and buy new cars and laptop computers.

  REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS AND OVERSIGHT SERVICES (RFP 16/17-07) Notice is hereby given that the San Francisco County Transportation Authority is requesting proposals from...

Modern day slaves, sanctioned by the United States government under the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution … Yes! By subjugating, marginalizing and disenfranchising the oppressed human beings, by way of economic discrimination or depriving humans of decent wages, that forces humans to live half-butchered lives that subject humans to the many social ills produced inside a society – a slave, criminal and gangster mentality that devalues, demeans, degrades and dehumanizes humans.

Finally, a filmmaker has come to the forefront to confront the identity question in the post-Obama Trump era. Filmmaker Mtume Gant beautifully asks pertinent questions about what it means to be Black in today’s times in his 20-minute short, an official SF Black Film Festival selection called “White Face.” This political satire, an artsy, comedic drama, is a must see for all the politically minded readers out there. Check out the genius of filmmaker Mtume Gant in this exclusive Q&A.

One of the most beautifully told stories and exceptionally written scripts in the 2017 San Francisco Film Festival presents itself as a current-day Black love story, a drama called “Boston2Philly.” It’s about a young man who’s devastated by his past and starts his life over in a new city trying to recover from what life has dealt him. I talked to filmmaker Ralph Celestin about his cinematic history and the making of this brilliant film.

 San Francisco, CA -- The Library’s annual summer learning program, Summer Stride, opens on May 13 and runs through Aug. 20. Summer Stride offers...

by Bilen Mesfin Packwood and Layla Crater Oakland – Ahead of Mother’s Day, Bay Area leaders and advocates hosted a press conference as part...

Kyle Zoellner, the suspect accused of stabbing Humboldt State University student David Josiah Lawson to death at an off-campus party Easter weekend, was released from Eureka’s jail. All charges were dropped. At the five-day preliminary hearing, I watched Zoellner’s girlfriend and her friends lie under oath. Black lives cannot matter as long as non-black people and their word is held in a higher regard than Black people. Black lives cannot matter within the realm of white privilege so long as the stereotypes of Blackness allow for others to use Black bodies as scapegoats.

Anticipating the governor will maintain a conservative fiscal outlook and hesitate to keep previously promised budget commitments, 500 parents and children will rally tomorrow, May 10, at the state capitol and meet with their legislators to address policies that limit access to affordable child care. Parents are deeply concerned that failure to address 10-year-old outdated income eligibility criteria forces thousands of parents out of the state subsidized child care system, threatening their ability to maintain their jobs and progress toward economic self-sufficiency.

One of the dopest documentaries that will be screening at the San Francisco Black Film Festival is “BlaxploItalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema,” which looks at the perception of Black people, born in Italy, in the their national media as well as the cultural currents that it took to get them included in working in cinema and today’s fight against type casting, where Blacks are only given certain characters to play. Check out filmmaker Fred Kuwornu.

Calling Bay Area High School Students: Apply for the 2017 MTC Summer High School Internships   Deadline for Applications Is May 15, 2017   SAN FRANCISCO, May 5, 2017...

Dimensions Dance Theatre presents its annual youth showcase, “The Village Matters,” on Sunday, May 7. Participants include Rites of Passage, Dimensions Extensions, LIKHA School of Philippine Dance, On Demand, BAY-Peace, Oakland Technical High School, Oakland High School, Bret Harte Middle School and Kipp Bridge Academy. The program also features guest artists Destiny Muhammad, “Harpist from the Hood,” and Batalá San Francisco.