January 2 9 ,2 0 0 3
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B lack History Month
‘Unchained Memories’ Premiers
Film presents
dramatic
selections from
slave narratives
collection
A sa part o f Black H istory M onth
com m em oration, the O regon H is
torical Society w ill present a p re
m ier screening o f an H B O d o cu
m entary film , “U nchained M em o
ries: R eadings From the Slave Nar-
r a t i v e s ,” a t M c M e n a m in 's
K ennedy School T heater, located
at5 7 3 6 N .E . 33"1 A ve., on W ednes
day, Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m .
T he film p re se n ts d ra m a tic se
lections from the S lave N arrativ es
C o lle c tio n , c o m p ile d b e tw e e n
1936 and 1938 fo r th e W o rk
P ro je c ts A d m in istra tio n fo r its
F e d e ra l W rite rs ’ P ro je c t. T ra n
scripts from in terv iew s w ith m ore
th an 2 ,0 0 0 o n e -tim e slav es w ere
p u t to g e th e r by the W P A g ro u p
to form a u n iq u e firsth a n d reco rd
o f slav e life.
“U n ch ain ed M e m o rie s” p re
sents pieces o f these interview s,
th r o u g h o n - c a m e r a , e m o tio n
c h a rg e d re a d in g s by n a rr a to r
W h o o p i G o ld b e rg an d g u e sts
O prah W infrey, Samuel L. Jackson,
A n g ela B assett, D on C h e a d le ,
V anessa L. W illiam s and others.
The footage will be interspersed
Black History month is in
February. The rememberence o f
minority accomplishment was
established by the efforts o f Dr.
Carter G. Woodwanl.
Reed College Hosts
Reparations Advocate
Black History Month celebrated
with prominent African Americans
The premier
screening o f the
HBO movie
“Unchained
Memories:
Readings from
the Slave
Narratives" will
feature Whoopi
Goldberg, Oprah
Winfrey, Samuel
L. Jackson, Don
Cheadle, Angela
Bassett and
others.
w ith archival photographs, m usic,
film and period im ages. The 74-
m inutedixum entary will airon HBO
on M onday, Feb. 10.
Dr. D arrell M illner, Professor o f
B lack Studies at Portland State
U niversity, w ill introduce “ U n
chained M em ories" at the Kennedy
School prem ier and lead a d iscu s
sion with audience m em bers after
In h o n o r o f B lack H istory
M onth, Reed C ollege is bringing
to cam p u s slavery reparations
advocate R andall R obinson, so
ciologist O rlando Patterson and
poet S onia Sanchez.
T he goal o f these visitors is to
provide a series o f program s that
will be useful to the R eed com m u
nity in addition to the larger Port
land com m unity.
Each o f these lecture events
begin at 7:30p.m . in the Kaul A u
ditorium . T hey are free and open
to the public.
On W ednesday, Feb. 5 Randall
R obinson, author o f “The Debt:
What America Owes Blacks," “De
fending the Spirit,"and "The Reck
oning: W hat Blacks O w e Each
O ther" will lecture on slavery repa
rations. R obinson is a graduate o f
H arvard Law School, the founder
and president o f the TransA frica
Forum and is a leading voice in
support o f reparations for A frican
A m ericans.
O rlando Patterson and John
C ow les will speak on T hursday,
Feb. 13. W inner o f T he Sorokin
P rize and the N atio n al B ook
A ward, Patterson is an interna
tionally renow ned sociologist and
is know n for his w ork on race,
immigration.and multiculturalism.
On W ednesday. Feb. 19, Sonia
Sanchez will read poetry and dis
cuss social activism. She is a poet,
playwright, social activist, fem inist
and author of more th;ui a 15 Ixxiks.
the screening.
For m ore inform ation on this
event or o th er O regon Historical
Society activities, contact Ken
D uB oisat 503-306-5221.
PCC Cascade Hosts African Film Festival
Annual event to
feature 19 films during
month of February
Portland C om m unity C ollege will host
the popular and div erse 13th A nnual
C ascade F estival o f A frican Film s, in
honor o f B lack H istory M onth, through
the m onth o f February at the C ascade
Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth. All screen
ings will be in T errell Hall 122, unless
noted otherw ise.
A ll o f the festival film s are free and
'open to the public.
T he festival, w hich features 19 film s
this year, has grow n to be a big favorite
am ong film buffs. L ast year the festival
featured an appearance by actor D anny
G lover and attracted a record o f 4,000
people.
“T his y ear’s film s are all outstanding,”
said M ary H olm strom , an organizer o f the
festival. “T hey all have extraordinary sto
ries to tell and im ages to reveal. They
have very im portant things to tell us
about A frican history, the urban A frican
w om an, religion and spirituality, civil w ar
and H IV /A ID S. T hey also celebrate m u
sic and dance, love and freedom , and the
indom itable hum an sp irit.”
T h e fe s tiv a l w ill o p e n w ith the
S enegalese film , “K arm en G et” directed
by Joseph G at Ram aka. on Saturday, Feb.
1 at M cM enam ins K ennedy School, 5736
N.E. 33rd Ave. There will be screenings o f
the film at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m . The film is
loosely based on G eorges B izet’s opera
“C arm en,” and is believed to be the first
A frican-produced m ovie m usical ever
made.
E thiopian film directo r H aile G erim a
will present his docum entary film, “Adwa:
An African Victory,” at 7:30 p.m. on Thurs
day, Feb. 6 at the H ollyw ood T heatre,
4122 N.E. Sandy BI vd. The film chronicles
the epic Battle o f A dw a o f 1896, in which
an arm y o f E thiopian m en and w om en
defeated an invading Italian arm y against
im possible odds.
At PCC C ascade on Feb. 13, the T hurs
day E vening D ocum entary Series will
include “A dw a,” “ B ilalian,” “Scenarios
from the S ahel” and “It’s M y L ife" on the
subject o f A ID S in W est and South A f
rica.
Film s about the lives o f tw o o f E g y p t’s
great artistic and literary giants, the singer
U m m K ulthum and the w riter N aguib
M ahfouz, will be presented on Feb. 20.
“Kirikou and the S orceress,” the popu
lar anim ated ch ild re n 's film based on a
C ongolese folk tale, is the featured film
for Family Film Day at 2 p.m. on Saturday,
Feb. 22 at M cM enam ins K ennedy S chool.
T w o o f C ilia S aw ad o g o 's short anim a-
co
o
CMCA0» Kt’-vH Û»
African Films
«
M ac «
«WW*» montn
This year s films are all outstanding.
They all have extraordinary stories to tell
and images to reveal.
lions will also be show n: "T he C ora
P layer" and “C hristopher C hanges His
Name."
The festival concludes with W om en
Ftlmmaket s Week. “M am a Africa: Grow
ing Up U rban,” three short film s by
women directors from N amibia, Nigeria
and South Africa, will be show n on Feb.
27 and 28, and “Satin R ouge,” the new
T unisian film by Raja A m ari about fe
m ale sensuality, will show on Feb. 27
and M arch I. T he festival will also host
the young African A m erican film m aker
A m in ah B ak eer A bdul-Jabbaarto Port
land. She will present her film “Bilalian”
at 7:30 p.m . on T hursday, Feb. 27, at
PC’C ’s Terrell Hall 122 on the C ascade
C am pus. “Bilalian" traces the history o f
the transform ation o f the Black M uslim
m ovem ent from the N ation o f Islam o f
Elijah M uham m ed into the orthodox
Islam o f the M uslim Society o f America.
T he com plete listing and descrip
tions o f film s are on the festival W eb
site at w w w .cfaf.n et.
- Mary Holmström, PCC Cascade Festival of African
Films organizer
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision
stirred the nation's conscience with his
dream of a better world for our children.
Today as we celebrate his birth, let us
remember the progress we have made yet
be mindful of the challenges still before us
Let's all strive to keep the dream alive.
OSAFEW AY
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