June 8, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Sharma Sets Sights on Hillary, Poised to Make History
appeared in the New
Republic, UPI, AP, Real
Clear Politics, Raw Story,
Asia Times and numer-
ous other newspapers.
Here, he discusses his
new book, “The Global
Hillary: Women’s Politi-
cal Leadership in Cultur-
al Contexts.”
Kam Williams: Hi
Dinesh, thanks for the in-
terview.
Dinesh
Sharma:
Hillary Clinton with Dinesh Sharma
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
D
inesh Sharma is
a social scientist,
marketing
con-
sultant and an ac-
claimed author with a
doctorate from Harvard
University. He is an As-
sociate Research Profes-
sor at the Institute for
Global Cultural Studies
at SUNY-Binghamton; an
adjunct Professor in Or-
ganizational Psychology
at Fordham University;
and a senior fellow at the
Institute for Internation-
al and Cross-Cultural Re-
search in New York City.
Dr. Sharma’s biography
of the 44th President of
the United States, enti-
tled “Barack Obama in
Hawaii and Indonesia:
The Making of a Global
President,” was rated as
among the Top 10 Books
of Black History for 2012
by the American Library
Association, Book List
Online. His next book,
“The Global Obama,”
was published by Rout-
ledge Press and received
Honorable Mention on
this critic’s Ten Best
Black Books of 2014 as
published by the Afri-
can-American Literary
Book Club (AALBC) and
widely syndicated across
the country.
Sharma’s recent arti-
cles and opinions have
Review cont’d from pg 6
Dr,. Warrington Avery
(Kevin Willmott). He
suggests that African
Americans attempt to
colonize Mars, and turn
the red planet into a vir-
tual utopia where they
will be entirely free from
white oppression.
And wouldn’t you
know, a spaceship has
already been built and
George
Washington
Carver (George Forbes)
has developed an atomic
rocket fuel made from
peanuts and sweet po-
tatoes. The crew volun-
teering for the maiden
voyage consists of Dr.
Avery, his daughter Be-
neatha (Danielle Cooper)
and their pilot, Captain
Race Johnson (Tosin Mo-
rohunfola).
The three astronauts
blastof, travel through
space and eventually
crash on the surface of
what they believe to be
a distant star. However,
only ater christening it
“Planet Negro,” do they
gradually come to realize
that they’ve time-trav-
eled to the future and
landed back on Earth in
present-day Kansas City.
There, the trio is in for
quite an awakening, be-
tween discovering that
the United States has an
African American pres-
ident and that Blacks
now use the “N-word” as
a term of endearment.
“Where we come from,
that’s what they call you
right before they kill
you,” Dr. Avery explains
to B-12 (Trai Byers), a rap-
per ostensibly oblivious
of the slur’s ugly legacy.
Written and directed
by and starring Kevin
Willmott,
Destination
Planet Negro is a goofy
spoof of the B-movie
genre that’s basically
played for laughs. Yet, it
simultaneously serves
as a sophisticated sat-
ire that makes some
thought-provoking ob-
servations about Amer-
ican culture `along the
way.
In that regard, it is
reminiscent of Will-
mott’s own C.S.A.: The
Confederate States of
America, a brilliant, al-
ternate-reality comedy
which speculated about
what the country would
be like today if the South
had won the Civil War.
As for Destination Plan-
et Negro, it’s also highly
recommended, provided
you’re in the mood for a
campy, low-budget sci-i
whose cheesy special ef-
fects are more than ofset
by a profusion of insight-
ful social statements.
Excellent HHHH
Unrated
Running time: 98 min.
Distributor: Candy Fac-
tory Films
Thanks, Kam, for this op-
portunity to speak with
you about my new book.
irst woman candidate,
pretty close to securing
the nomination.
KW: What about Hil-
lary Clinton interested
you enough to edit a book
about her global image?
DS: I think she is by
far the most qualiied
person running for the
White House right now
-- Secretary of State, U.S.
Senator, First Lady -- who
also happens to be the
KW: Tell me where
you got the idea for “The
Global Hillary.”
DS: This is a follow-up
to “The Global Obama”
book which you re-
viewed. The same pub-
lisher, Routledge Press,
wanted me to write a
book about Hillary Clin-
ton’s leadership.
KW: How would you
describe the main thesis
of this opus?
DS: In this book, we
explore the linkage be-
tween “Smart Power”
and Hillary Clinton’s
leadership style. Can she
advance American lead-
ership and women’s de-
velopment worldwide?
“The Global Hillary” ad-
dresses these questions
See SHARMA on page 11