Page 18 Jîortlanh (Obstruer November 6. 2013 ‘12 years a Slave’ irti? - ^í» 600 J - T he N ew C lub Q 11140 SE Powell Blvd » m ents in the film involves a long, on the legacy o f the m any m ixed hot afternoon in w hich N orthup children w ho em erged from slave toll -- the challenge, for exam ple, hangs from a tree at the very brink households. o f m aintaining any dignity or p er o f asphyxiation, while slave chil It pro v id es a picture o f the sonal p o w e r w hile living subject dren play in the background and slave trade as it w as really p rac to the w him s and cap rices o f the plantation abides in pastoral ticed. It o ffers a couple o f potent those w ho hold ultim ate p o w er quiet. You m ay find, as I did, that e x a m p le s o f h o w p la n ta tio n o v er one's existence and define the film holds you in a state o f w ives participated in the o p p res one as subhum an. nauseous unease. As well it should. sion o f slaves, and provides an M c Q u e e n 's f o c u s o n n e M cQ ueen know s how to take a array o f w indow s into a slave glected stories also fits the story subject like this that is hard to look econom y, finally putting the lie to o f A m erican slavery itself. T he at, and to give you a reason to look. the ro m an tic illusions about the nu m b er and q uality o f film s e x Each fram e reflects a quality o f old South that H olly w o o d and, plorin g H itler and the N azis is intention that m akes m ost H olly indeed, A m erican history have practically encyclopedic in co m w ood fare seem flippant by com ped aled fo r generations. parison to the relative p au city o f parison, and John Ridley's screen T o w atch “ 12 Y ears a S lav e” film s ad d ressin g slavery w ith play (again, unlike m ost H olly is to particip ate in a collective even p erip h eral interest. If a n y w ood fare) resists any tem ptation d eep en in g o f co n scio u sn ess that thing, A m erican film s reflect a to explain o r soften this challeng w e d esp erately need in order to tenden cy to m inim ize this fo u n ing material. Ridley never relieves m ake sense o f o u r presen t cir dational asp ect o f o u r history so you o f the obligation to grapple cu m stan ces. It is art that asks pro n o u n ced that it rises to the with com plex truth. so m eth in g o f the audience, fo r level o f a co llectiv e ch aracter M cQ u een uses lo n g er shots sure - but it rew ard s that atten disorder. than m o st film s use, to direct tion w ith im ages that w ill u n M cQ u een 's film , then, rep re your attention to things one needs settle y o u in the w ay that only sents an im p o rtan t corrective, to u n d erstan d in o rd er to absorb the b est art does. h andled w ith subtlety and co u r the hu m an suffering in a difficult Darleen Ortega is a judge on age. It w ill gu id e you to a k in d o f story. It is a kind o f m in istry o f the Oregon Court o f Appeals legitim ate suffering, requiring you p resen c e th at the su b ject d e and the first woman o f color to to not only o bserve m om ents o f serves fro m us but w hich few serve in that capacity. Her movie d ev astatin g b ru tality b u t also to film m ak ers attem pt to evoke. review column Opinionated absorb how u n rem ark ab le such T he film provides us w ith the Judge appears regularly in The m o m e n ts w ere to slav es and m ean s to reflect, fo r exam ple, Portland Observer. You can find th eir ow ners. on w hat slav ery did to the souls her movie blog at O ne o f the m ore profound mo- o f ev en k in d ly slave ow ners, and opinionatedjudge. blogspot. com. c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 11 — Live Music every weekend, good R&B, Blues and Gospel. Gospel every Sunday 3:00pm until 7:00pm Club Reo All-Star Jam Session, Sunday 8:00pm - 1:00am Everyone is Invited flortiatth<0hsrnîer i H ousing Sfrrctrif EthtKwt .'«arc« Youne, Black I Gifted! Recognizing kids OH right track Reception for new College Leader c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 4 ’Print diversity Tocontact R x tla n d C teerver Call 503-288-0033 or email ads@ portlandobserver.com led PCC Voices of Soul Choir, a student processional highlighting the range o f PCC programs and ser vices, poem reading by faculty Michael McDowell, greetings by college faculty, staff and students as well as from the business and education community, gifts presen tations and Brown's presidential address. "It's a great honor to be here and participate today, and welcome Dr. Jeremy Brown to Portland and to the leadership of this great educational institution," Gov. Kitzhaber said. "Having served in leadership roles with major colleges and universities on the East Coast, I think Dr. Brown brings an impressive background to his new role as president of Port USPS 959-680 P u b l is h e r : E d it o r : Mark Washington M ich a el L eighton E xecutive D irector : Rakeem Washington C reative D irector : P aul N e u fe ld t O ffice M anager / C lassifieds : A dvertising M anager : R eporter / P hotographer Donovan M. Smith years at Indiana University pursu ing physics research, followed by a faculty position in the physics de partment at Princeton University. During his address, Brown said his father dropped out of school at the age of 13 so that he could help support his family financially and his mother did not attend college until she was nearly 40 years old. But both parents emphasized and recognized the value of education, so that their children, Brown, his brother and two sisters, would aim high and excel academically. "I've come farther than I could have ever dreamed possible because of the opportunities offered to me through education," Brown con cluded. "And I want those opportu nities for as many future genera tions of students as possible.’ 47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. BivçJ., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORT LAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc. New York, NY. and The West Coast Black Publishers Association Lucinda Baldwin Leonard Latin land Community College. He brings a very strong appreciation of the vital role that community colleges play here." Brown took the reins of Portland Community College on July 1 after the retirement of Preston Pulliams. A native of M anchester, En gland, Brown previously served as president o f Dowling College on Long Island and Edinboro Univer sity in Pennsylvania, part of the state's public university system. An academic by training, Brown earned both his bachelor of science degree and his doctorate in physics from the University of Birmingham, En gland. His doctoral work in experi mental nuclear physics was con ducted at both the University of Birmingham and the University of California-Berkeley. He spent two news QportlqnJvbserver. com CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015 Qd s ^ portlanJobserver.com subscription @portlandobserver, com P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, P 0 Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR9 7 2 0 8