Culture Currents

“I love drawing Black people, especially kids. Our looks range so much with hair types, skin tones, facial features and body types. There’s an infinite supply of inspiration.”

In his new film, “Good Hair,” Chris Rock approaches the subject of Black women’s hair ... like a man. Love 'im or not, you gotta see this film that everybody's talking about. And the Bay View has some free tickets to a special screening Wednesday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m. Each ticket admits two. Call (415) 671-0789

Community Empowerment Programs Incorporated will be working extensively with Leroy F. Moore Jr., founder of Krip Hop Nation, on programs that empower people with disabilities in arts, self-advocacy and music. The partnership will start working on its first annual activism, music and arts event facilitated by African American leaders hosted in Albany, N.Y., and a location to be determined in New York City shortly thereafter.

Chef Bryant Terry is teaming up with the Matatu Festival of Stories and is offering an opening night dinner – with spoken word artists Saul Williams and Donte Clark, along with visual artist Mahader Tesfai – on Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 7 to 10 p.m. at Miss Ollie’s, 901 Washington St. in Oakland. Check out Chef Bryant Terry, one of Oakland’s frontline soldiers in the food justice and healthy soul food movement, in his own words.

Typically, people make mistakes about Andre “Son of God” Ward all of the time. People say he’s light (in terms of weight), but no one can push him around. They say he cannot punch, but no one can just walk right through him. The lesson is that it is always different on the outside, and until you get into a ring with him, you won’t know how hard he can punch. Once you find out, the same mistake isn’t repeated – at least not by the same people.

As each page of the crumbling story of capitalism is turned, it becomes less possible to deny the lie of it.

Sister Moon “became a quiet foundation to a revolution long overdue.”

Jasiri X is one of the most famous up and coming conscious artists in the nation who has been making positive noise with his music. Straight out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jasiri X has been working with Paradise of the legendary rap group XClan in a community coalition called One Hood.

Turns out the freedoms we won weren’t enough; we also need discipline. No disrespect to other cultures, but when we got a little freedom, we did a jailbreak from each other and ran into the open arms of everybody else and made them rich! We ran to Chinatown to get Chinese food, we ran to Japantown to get sushi and Japanese food. We ran to the taco stand to get Mexican food.

Oscar Grant. Kenneth Harding. Trayvon Martin. These are just a few names of young Black men who have yet to receive justice in the criminal justice system. Dregs One addresses the issue of police brutality and the abuses of power that have been committed by police and the justice system.

If you’re a native San Franciscan, you know the sound. It’s as sweet as the smell of BBQ ribs and cornbread and sweet potato pie when the city had soul food restaurants all over with Black folks cooking in black kitchens on black grills with black pots and pans bubbling music in the background, in the foreground – all over.

In Janesville, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s home town, as jobs disappear and families are stretched to their breaking point, citizens and politicians are embroiled in an ideological battle about how to turn things around. Attend a free screening of “As Goes Janesville” at the San Francisco Main Library, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 5:30-6:30 p.m., followed by a panel discussion.

Redevelopment comes in and out like thieves in the night turning the remaining community members into back-stabbing vultures and because we hate the very flesh that clothes our veins, we are pacified with deceiving gifts and fake promises of fair land distribution.

Oscar Grant’s death was a tragedy that affected a lot of people in Oakland, especially youth. The video is meant to be a message to everyone in Oakland about the injustices here and how we use artistic expression to deal with it. The Turf Feinz "turf dancers" have received more than 2 million views for their previous video made by Yak Films. The release of this memorial dance video is a reminder of the fragility of young lives in Oakland, Calif. – and an artistic celebration of the beauty of youth expression and possibility. May 2011 be a happier new year.

Storytelling is one of the most ancient forms of entertainment – before radio, television, paper and cinema. Ayodele “Wordslanger” Nzinga is one of the Bay Area’s most talented griots who tells stories of the past through her West Oakland-based theater company, The Lower Bottom Playaz. The legendary August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” opens July 13.

Movie-goers across the country are embroiled in heavy social media discussions or water cooler arguments about Quentin Tarantino’s use and Spike Lee’s criticism of use of the infamous N-word in the blockbuster hit “Django Unchained.” During the last couple of decades there has been an interesting ongoing dialogue concerning the use, misuse and exploitation of the so-called N-word.

In this “post-racial” era, where Black folks are fair game once more, and silenced by the shimmering spectacle of a Black family in the White House, a Black child may be slimed by the most sexist, most objectifying of terms. Misogyny in embryo. But, don’t worry. It’s just a joke. Can’t you take a joke?

After just under an hour of deliberation, a Manhattan jury acquitted Atlanta Hawks guard Thabo Sefolosha of misdemeanor charges ranging from obstructing government administration and disorderly conduct to resisting arrest last week. The charges stemmed from a late-night confrontation with the New York Police Department last April that left Thabo with a broken leg.

The door is open to a place most of us have never been, a people none of us knew and an opportunity to feel the essence of the Mayan people.

There is an old saying: “Do as I say and not as I do.” 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic’s daily activities and special events are designed with the complete opposite of that philosophy in that they empower and develop leadership in youth from Bayview Hunters Point.