Category: local

Becca reviews “Anatomy of a Black Man”

saw “Anatomy of a Black Man” last night and was blown away! congrats Anderson Allen!

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Rebecca Rafferty: Two philosophers took the stage tonight, coming together to help one another artfully understand their experiences, emoting about the under-appreciated burden on black men to, against heavily stacked odds, be overachievers and still not be seen. To bear the responsibility to be their brothers’ keepers and become teachers to a sometimes unwilling audience, but to show up and do the work anyway. To struggle to be present for the journey toward love in the time of war waged against them. To swallow righteous anger because society won’t make a place for it any more than society will make a change. To shoulder the responsibility of explaining it all, day in and day out, to those who don’t want to get it. More here.

STOP MOTION – start action at the Fringe

wonderful show – “STOP MOTION – start action” – at the fringe festival today. our multimedia piece “other echoes” was strong and beautiful. when some of frantz fanon’s words appeared on screen along with larissa pham’s description of microaggressions as low grade radiation, i heard a definite reaction from the audience. thank u to Mariko Yamada for being such a perfect collaborator, thank u to all the dancers for understanding the spirit of the piece and embodying it so passionately, thank u to Rajesh Barnabas for his gorgeous cinematography, thank u to Artists Coalition for Change Together for giving us this opportunity and thank u to all my fam and friends for being there. just as this piece was informed by my film on racism, the film will be informed by this piece and how it came together. we need to go deeper, we need to talk more. so much work to be done.



other echoes – coming up this sunday!

i am working with dance choreographer mariko yamada to combine dance and film in a piece called “other echoes – an introduction.” it’s a short piece that will be presented as part of “STOP MOTION – start action” at the fringe festival this coming sunday sept 17 at 5pm, at muccc. it includes footage from an interview as well as dance (on screen and on stage), words and music. the entire show is very thought-provoking, political, and multimedia. here is more info and hope to see u there!

stop motion start action

Becca reviews “There is a Field”

Rebecca Rafferty: My evening wrapped at MuCCC with a staged reading of Jen Marlowe’s based-on-reality play, “There is a Field.” The premise of the story is that a young man is murdered by police at a protest. His sister, a medical student, seeks answers as her family and community grieve their loss. But the answers aren’t forthcoming, and each of the characters struggle in different ways with the concept of the futile pursuit of retribution, and if and how to engage in forgiveness.

Scraps of narration punctuate and pull together bits of live acting and flashbacks, as slowly the audience learns the story of a Palestinian Arab family living in what is now Israel. It’s important to phrase it that way, because the family did not move to Israel; they never left what was once Palestine. Through anecdotes of discrimination and conflict, the play conveys a strong picture of second-class citizenship.

Both the script and the way it is presented are important in a number of ways. The story presents the brother-sister relationship in a realistic rivalry-meets-undying-love kind of way, which feels very relatable across cultures and borders.
But crucially, the show is acted entirely by a black cast. Solidarity between black Americans and Palestinians makes a world of sense. The themes of massively imbalanced power structures, police and military brutality, and authorities investigating themselves to zero effect are all too familiar. More here.

there is a field photographed by annette dragon

She was a rising star at a major university. Then a lecherous professor made her life hell.

florian jaeger, an expert in linguistics and computational methods at the University of Rochester. sexual predator. promoted to full professor with tenure. needs to be fired.

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Madison Pauly: “He was somebody who was in the field who I didn’t want to upset,” she explains now. “I wasn’t sure what was normal and what wasn’t. The idea that this kind of thing was common was totally believable.” That spring was the start of Kidd’s decadelong effort—as a doctoral student and, later, as a junior faculty member—first to appease Jaeger, then to isolate herself from his influence, and finally to hold him responsible for years of sexual harassment in UR’s cognitive and brain sciences department, according an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint filed last week. More here.

witness palestine and multimedia performance on racism

what an amazing day! woke up early to interview the splendid susan abulhawa who was in rochester to kick off the witness palestine film festival. got to work with rajesh barnabas. later in the afternoon went to nazareth college to rehearse our multimedia piece about racism that’s coming up at the rochester fringe festival on sept 17 at 5pm. got to witness mariko yamada’s wonderful choreography and met three beautiful dancers. finally, went to MuCCC and figured out the technical side of things. the show promises to be awesome – it’s political, edgy, multimedia. get ur tickets now 🙂

mara ahmed and susan abulhawa

rajesh barnabas and susan abulhawa

cloria sutton, owen edwards, joyce edwards and mara ahmed

Witness Palestine series branches out in sixth year

Adam Lubitow: The Witness Palestine Film Festival, back for a sixth year, continues its mission to spotlight the human rights issues at the heart of the decades-spanning conflict between Palestine and Israel. Along with the annual film series (which runs through the beginning of October), this year’s festival branches out with a multidisciplinary program of events that kicks off this weekend with a talk by keynote speaker, novelist, essayist, and poet Susan Abulhawa on Sunday, September 10, at 2 pm. Admission to the lecture is free.

Also scheduled is a staged reading of the play “There is a Field,” which will be performed as part of the upcoming Rochester Fringe Festival on Thursday, September 14, 9 p.m., and Thursday, September 28, 7:30 p.m., at MuCCC (142 Atlantic Avenue). Tickets are $10.

This year’s Witness Palestine event also adds an art exhibition to the mix, “Bethlehem Beyond the Wall,” which will be on display from October 1 through October 14 in Lorette Wilmot Library Lobby at Nazareth College (4245 East Avenue). Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day.

The lineup of films gets off to a strong start with the crowd-pleasing musical drama “Junction 48.”

More here.

for corinne sutter brown

we lost a beautiful human being yesterday and we lost her way too soon. the best word to describe corinne is “fierce” – her courage, intelligence, integrity, and absolute commitment to justice. she had a razor sharp mind, she was uncompromising, but she was also kind – a steadfast friend and ally. i always felt a special connection to corinne and i’m sure many others did as well. we depended on her brilliance and sagacity. rochester’s activist community will not be the same without her, palestine solidarity will certainly not be the same. rest in power my friend.

ricardo adams and corinne sutter brown

Other Echoes – An Introduction

Working with Mariko Yamada on producing a piece about racism that incorporates both film and dance. Starting to see a structure emerge and super excited to film two dancers at RCTV with Rajesh Barnabas soon. This short piece will be entitled “Other Echoes – An Introduction” and will be performed at MuCCC, for the Fringe Festival 2017, on Sept 17th at 5pm. Stay tuned 🙂