Afrosoleil

While walking the lake Sunday morning, I ran into the former bassist for Hairdoo. He is with a new band now, Afrosoleil. They have a gig this Saturday, Dec. 29, in Alameda at Mr. Grath's Pub, 1339 Lincoln Ave. at Stanton. Take the 29th Street bridge; turn right on Lincoln. It's an Irish bar, which means 21+. The gig starts at 8 p.m. and lasts until 12 a.m. There is no cover.

Frank Morgan Dec. 23, 1933-Dec. 14, 2007

John Handy, Frank Morgan and I were enjoying the San Jose Jazz Festival. Photo: Wanda Sabir

‘I Am Legend'

I have been cooling out at the movies this weekend and recommend Will Smith's box office hit, "I Am Legend." Wow, what a great film! Remember Bob Marley's classic album with the same title? Even if this film is a remake of another film, based on a novel by the same title, Will Smith shifts the nuances. Not only are there references to Marley, after whom scientist Robert Neville named his daughter, but Will Smith's real life daughter Willow is cast in this role. Remember her brother, Jaden, with dad in "Pursuit of Happiness" last December? Bob Marley is an artist who believed music and culture could infuse peace and tranquility in the world - kind of like an antiretroviral, like AZT only without side-effects.

The film is set in Manhattan at a time when Neville and his dog Sam, short for Samantha, are the only two survivors of a viral infection that spreads via air and by blood. A military scientist bent on discovering a cure for the people who are left, people who have lost all sense of humanity, Neville and Sam stay behind when those uninfected are evacuated. The film begins four years later - Neville's hold on sanity slipping as he keeps searching for a cure.

The relationship Neville has with Sam, his meticulous documentation of his experiments on rats and then on humans, his radio appeals for anyone who is still alive, help him hold onto his sanity, yet when we meet him he slips more than once, taking unnecessary chances until he snaps and tries to throw his life away. He knows all too well that there is no room for error because at nightfall the nocturnal former human beings begin to roam looking for food and fresh blood.

In one of my favorite scenes, Sam and Neville listen to Bob Marley as the scientist washes off his dog and fixes the two of them dinner, then shuts down the house, which looks unoccupied to anyone outside. Like his mentor, Bob Marley, Neville believes that the righteous can't take a holiday because evil doesn't know a day off. Each day he gets up, gets dressed and gets into his van and drives to the pier and sits and waits for anyone who might be out there alone and in need of shelter and safety and food. He broadcasts on an AM frequency as he golfs, updates his computer files and watches the horizon or plays ball with Sam.

2012 is when the film is set, and the infected population quarantined in New York sounds strangely like AIDS when the first cases showed up in the white gay community there. This miracle cure that started all the trouble was for cancer. The people who didn't die from the virus were eaten by the infected survivors - the mutants who'd lost all sense of what it meant to have compassion, what it meant to love someone, what it meant have a conscience.

Okay, so I'm watching this film - I was kind of scared at first. I'm really happy I saw it in the day time. This is not a film for children under 12. The rabid humans are frightful as they try to eat anything alive; they are agile and strong and it takes a lot to kill them.

Let's see, how do I say this without giving away the ending? Do you remember "Children of Men," a film that was nominated for a Grammy last year? It was about a time in the future when babies stopped being conceived and a Black woman gets pregnant and gives birth. She is a heroine, but the writer has to sully her reputation first. She is a prostitute and she's Black - two strikes.

The same with Neville as hero. Black heroes, men or women, are not adequately celebrated for what they bring to the world. In both these films, Black characters save the world, yet their sacrifice is not given much time on screen, especially Neville's. Watch how the glory shifts quickly to another, in Smith's case a minor character who we know little of.

We don't need to talk about the depiction of beauty as European - Neville's wife, who might have been Black, was so light-complexioned I couldn't tell. Smith is extraordinary in this film, which is just him and Sam for two-thirds of the action, plus the rabid inhabitants he is trying to save. "Legend" gives an entirely different spin on "biting the hand who feeds you."

‘Enchanted'

It was daylight and though I wasn't scared, I needed to see another film - one a little happier. My daughter TaSin recommended "Enchantment," so my friend and I went to see that. What a fun film! Also set in Manhattan, in fact Times Square, there the parallel ends. In "I Am Legend," the streets were abandoned, cars empty along with the buildings, empty except for zombies. The occasional herd of deer running through the streets, leaping over the vehicles as Neville and Sam occasionally gave chase were the only movement on screen. "I Am Legend" is a remake of earlier films based on the 1954 novel by Richard Matheson. The first movie was called "The Last Man on Earth," starring Vincent Price, filmed in Italy in 1964. A later adaptation in 1971 is called "The Omega Man." It starred Charlton Heston as Robert Neville. If you'd like to see the earlier film, visit http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1663597729999672400.

"Enchanted" is clever on a lot of artistic levels - it's a place where picture book dioramas take on human characteristics. Giselle (actress Amy Adams), the beautiful fairy princess, is banished from her lovely home where everyone sings and her true love waits at the altar, to the streets of New York City, where she loses her crown shortly after landing in the gutter. Narrated by Julie Andrews (of "Mary Poppins" fame), "Enchanted" often feels like a storybook tale; however, after the early animated scenes, New York as a setting gives it a jaded cynicism. It's a place love certainly hasn't a chance, or so one thinks.
Giselle is certain her prince, Edward, will come after her, yet, while she waits, another comes to her rescue, Robert, a divorce attorney whose daughter brings his attention to the lady on scaffolding knocking on a billboard sign of a castle door. The father gets out of the car in the pouring rain and calls up to her, she falls into his arms, into their lives and though he can't believe her naiveté about love and life, is enchanted anyway, he along with his little girl.

In the meantime, the evil queen, Ed's stepmom, is after Giselle also. Who will win is -well, I can't tell you. But there is a clever twist at the end and the special effects like exploding red apples and large green reptiles - might frighten a little child, so I wouldn't recommend this film for children under seven.
The prince arrives in New York shortly after his finance with a sword, followed by the evil queen henchman who is trying to kill Giselle with one of three apples. There are mentions of Little Red Riding Hood too. The queen's henchman fails so the evil queen arrives in New York to complete the job herself. What an entrance! She's got lots of style, too bad she serves the wrong master. "Enchanted" is a musical and Giselle is magical so she enchants the pigeons and rats, yes even roaches with her song - there is a ball and a maiden looses her slipper. In "Enchanted" the slipper is a metaphor.

The struggle between the evil witch and Giselle's prince on the Empire State Building reminded me of King Kong. Only in "Enchanted," the witch is a fire breathing dragon and she has a man in her claw, not a woman. In "Enchanted," a woman picks up the sword and scales the building to save the day. The special effects in both films are extraordinary, especially in the animals. The chipmunk is great in "Enchanted" - I wonder if he's real? I can't say enough about Sam in "I Am Legend." She and Neville have a special relationship.

The ‘Bee Movie'

Today, animated doesn't automatically mean for children, but in the "Bee Movie," it's true, you can take the little ones and not worry. It's so funny - the idea of a multicultural bee is played out in the garden and in the hive, the way "Happy Feet" celebrates diversity at the North Pole. The "Bee Movie" is a coming of age story where Barry B. Benson has just graduated from college and can't decide what job he'd like in the hive, except he knows he doesn't want to be a stirrer like his dad. He'd love to be one of the guys who goes out and gets nectar and pollinates the flowers. He gets his chance and while out he meets a new friend, Vanessa, a florist in New York City.

Barry had never given any thought to honey outside of the hive, but as he gets to know Vanessa, he learns while out shopping one day that humans eat honey. Did I mention Barry speaks English? Well, he does, although it's a cardinal sin to let them know. (In "Enchanted," the animals talk too.) Barry is appalled when he sees grocery shelves filled with honey in, of all things, bear-shaped containers.
There is a really cool duel between Barry and a stock clerk - Barry wins. He gets the information he needs and follows the honey truck from the store back to the farm when he sees his relatives enslaved in wooden hives. There the bees are forced to make honey, none they can keep. Barry takes photos of comatose bees, gassed so the farmers can take the honey without being stung. Once home, Barry consults with his parents and best friend, then decides to sue the bee farmers and all others who exploit bees. Barry even sues the rock group Sting for the use of a bee term.

Jerry Seinfeld is Barry's voice. Renée Zellweger is Vanessa's voice. Oprah Winfrey is the voice of the Judge Bumbleton who hears the case. Chris Rock is the voice of the Mooseblood, a mosquito Barry meets on the way to the bee farm. Barry is on the Larry King show; Larry King the voice of Bee Larry King. The universe is parallel - that of bees and humans. The hive is cinematic wonderland. The colors and textures are lovely.

It's really funny. There is even a love story - between a florist and, yes, a bee. A great scene is near the end when the bees realize the symbiotic relationship human beings have with bees.

‘The Great Debaters'

From Professor Melvin B. Tolson's recitation of Langston Hughes' poem, "I Too Am America," in the opening scene to James Farmer Jr.'s closing speech at Harvard University, this drama, based on the true story of the Wiley College debate team, reminds one of African-American greatness. Words are powerful weapons and this film, based on a true story set in Marshall, Texas, in 1935, demonstrates this fact. 1935 was a time when racial intolerance and hatred was sanctioned by law, especially in the South.
With Denzel Washington as the lead character, I was reminded of another starring role he played, Coach Herman Boone in "Remember the Titans" (2000). Set in Virginia in 1971, Boone was a football coach at the recently desegregated T.C. Williams High School. In "The Debaters," Washington is both star and director, I don't know how he pulls it off, but the man is fantastic in his role as teacher and role model for the youth who are attracted to the school for its debate team and this teacher, Mr. Tolson.

The other cast members are debate team members. Actor Nate Parker as "Henry Lowe," actor Denzel Whitaker as "James Foreman Jr.," actor Forest Whitaker as "Dr. James Forman Sr." and actress Jurnee Smollett as "Samantha Booke" were just as outstanding. Then, African-American students were just as educated - even more educated than their white counterparts. The only reason white people were in charge was because of civic support for their terrorist acts. In one scene, Dr. Farmer hits a hog to avoid these white kids playing in the road. The white farmer pulls his gun and demands $25. The pastor says he'll endorse his paycheck over to the farmer. The farmer says, "Endorse?" Dr. Farmer says, "Sign it over to you."

It's films like this that make me wonder why desegregation was necessary, why didn't we just demand our share of the tax revenue, so that separate was equal? We are no more loved now than we were then. The evidence is so obvious, even without the nooses. In "The Great Debaters" there is a lynching. It's so realistic and so shockingly real that one can understand Henry Lowe's bitterness, why he says he'd like to sit in a boat on the water under the cypress trees and read poetry. His story is never fully explored - I wonder what past he can't or doesn't want to share.

Samantha Brooke's presence on the team, the only woman, is so affirming. She is great. We were cheering her on as she warmed to her subject when the team had its first debate with a white college. Before television, the debates were attended by African-Americans. The Harvard debate was broadcast on national radio.

This year, a year when a star journalist, Chauncey Bailey, was slain, and so many Black youth are headed for a similar fate, that a high school principal called a community meeting to develop strategies to address the crisis, it is films like "The Great Debaters" that we should be taking our children to see. It's films like this, and others like "Pride," "Akeelah and the Bee," "Coach Carter," "Searching for Bobby Fisher" and others that extol academic achievement and excellence, that our children need to watch.

These are the stories they aren't being told, these are the films that don't get the Grammy nominations, let alone the awards. These are also the films that disappear so quickly from the commercial films that if you blink you'll miss it - just like many people missed the film, "Talk to Me." Directed by Kasi Lemmons, this is true story about the power of media and the story of a friendship between two Black men: Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. and Dewey Hughes. Petey, portrayed by Don Cheadle, convinces WOL-AM to let him host a show on their station. It's the mid-to-late 1960s in Washington, D.C., during a time when vibrant soul music and social consciousness provided the perfect format for a show that gained national attention and is now duplicated across the country.

Argument or debate rests in the premise that one's opponent is a reasonable person, and the problem with racism is that the racist is not reasonable or logical. Hence my earlier question. At times the Harvard arguments sounded like King George, especially when debaters used the term "rule of law." But the intelligent Wiley College students were prepared. The film is not for little children. I would say 12-years-old and up for adult content, slight nudity and mob and lynching scenes, plus other brutality.

Ice skating in Oakland

Experience the magic of the holidays at an open air ice skating rink nestled in the Heartlands of East Oakland Dec. 28, 29 and 30, at the transformed vacant lot at 5803 Foothill Blvd. It will be a winter wonderland filled with snow and ice. Delight in this magical holiday atmosphere where there will be fun, excitement and laughter for children and adults.

"We're building a 1,500 square feet rink," said Councilperson Desley Brooks. "We want families to come out and enjoy the festivities of the season. We will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will offer 45-minute skating sessions every hour." The cost per session is $5 per person and includes skate rental. Entertainment will be provided Saturday and Sunday 11:45 a.m.-12 p.m., 3:45-4 p.m. The Ice Girls will perform, at 12-12:30 p.m., 4-4:30 p.m. Charlie the Mascot will be on site for pictures and to skate with kids. All skill levels are welcome to come out and join in the fun. For information, call (510) 238-7006 (office) or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Kwanzaa 2007

Happy Kwanzaa, a time to celebrate family, community and culture

UMOJA-Unity, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007: This year the first day is hosted by the Wo'se Community House of Amen Ra and The House of Unity at the East Oakland Youth Development Center, 8200 International Blvd. in Oakland. For information, call (510) 569-8088.

The focus this year will be on African-American males and the crisis many of them are facing at schools like Castlemont and McClymonds. One of the principals will speak, along with poets Ise Lyfe and Chanaka Hodge. There will be traditional African dance. This is the first time The House of Unity and Wo'se are hosting Umoja together.

Earlier Wednesday, at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, 557 McReynolds Rd., Sausalito, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a free community Kwanzaa. At 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. there will be performances by the African Queens. All day long there will be hands on activities: Altar Display Entry Pavilion, Family Reading Area Ceramics Studio, Plangi Tie Dye Studio, Gris Gris Charm Bags Studio, Mask Making Studio, African-inspired Cuisine Bay Café and Groundnut Stew.

"Kwanzaa" is a Swahili word for "first fruits of the harvest." The seven guiding principles of Kwanzaa, Nguzo Saba, are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith - all wonderful personal values to be reminded of as you start the New Year. The museum also offers free admission on the second Saturday of each month from 1 to 5 p.m. For information, call (415) 339-3900 or visit http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/programs_events/festivals/.

Kwanzaa in San Jose with the African American Community Service Agency

The African American Community Service Agency presents their annual Kwanzaa celebration Dec. 26-Jan. 1, 6-8 p.m., at AACSA, 304 N. 6th St., San Jose. Each evening Dec. 26-Dec. 29, a different organization will host the event. Call (408) 292-3157 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for information.

Fifth annual Kwanzaa at the Malonga

This year is the fifth annual Kwanzaa at the Malonga. On Thursday, Dec. 27, for Kujichagulia-Self Determination, there will be cultural presentations from Cuba, Brasil, Haiti, Congo, Guinea, Senegal and Oakland featuring Paradise, Jackie Barnes, Fua dia Congo, Rudi Mwongozi, Dimensions Extensions, Ile Omode, Alseny Soumah and the Guinea Review, art, songs, chants and community call.

The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with the African Marketplace featuring Destiny the Harpist performing on the Red stage in the theater lobby. There will also be an exhibit of the "Omo Aso Community Quilt Healing and Transformation," a project conceived by the vivaARTS network. The drum call will be at 6:20 p.m. with Ngoma processional. People can bring drums, shakers, shakarees, tambourines, good spirits and a non-pork dish in a disposable pan for the Karamu immediately following the ceremony.

African American Art and Culture Complex celebrates Kujichagulia

This celebration is at 762 Fulton St., San Francisco. Call (415) 922-2049 for information on the Village Project: Kwanzaa Kujichagulia.

Ujima-Collective Work and Responsibility

Ujima, pn Friday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m., is hosted by the Nairobi Kwanzaa Committee, 1310 Bay Road, East Palo Alto, (650) 325-5532, (650)799-4828.

Ujamaa-Cooperative Economics

Saturday, Dec. 29, 4-7 p.m., Ujamaa is hosted by the Bay Area Association of Black Social Workers (BAABSW) at the Wo'se Community House of Amen Ra, 8924 Holly St., East Oakland, (510)717-0464 cell.

Ujamaa-Cooperative Economics

Saturday, Dec. 29, 3-6 p.m., Ujamaa is hosted by the Pivotal Point Youth Services at Jack London Aquatic Center, 115 Embarcadero St., Downtown Oakland, (510) 536-6604 ext. 201.

Ujaama at the West Oakland Branch Library

E.W. Wainwright's African Roots of Jazz Youth Drummers will perform for Ujamaa on Saturday, Dec. 29, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the WOBL, 1801 Adeline St., Oakland, (510) 238-7352. There will be light refreshments. The event is free.

Ujamaa in Richmond

There'a a Family Kwanzaa Celebration, Saturday, Dec. 29, 12 noon to 5 p.m., at the Nevin Community Center, 593 Nevin Ave., in Richmond.

Ujamaa in Vallejo

The Vallejo Community Kwanzaa is Dec. 29 at the Vallejo Fetterly Playhouse Theater, 3467 Sonoma Blvd., Vallejo. Call Askari if you have questions and would like to assist, at (707) 553-8634 or (707) 712-3669 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This year some of the people the Vallejo community is celebrating are Ms. Betty Frank, Mr. Price, Goodie and Jeanette Goudeau.

Nia-Purpose

Sunday, Dec. 30, at 10:30 a.m., Nia is hosted by Wose Community House of Amen Ra at Wo'se, 8924 Holly St., Oakland, (510) 632-8230, (510) 654-2620.

Nia-Purpose

Sunday, Dec. 30, at 7 p.m., Nia is hosted by the Pan African Peoples Organization (PAPO), 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, (510) 465-2886, (510) 917-5878.

Kuumba-Creativity

Monday, Dec. 31, TBA

Imani-Faith

Tuesday, Jan. 1, Imani is to be held at your home in honor of the extended family.

Paul Mooney at Black Rep Dec. 27-31

Celebrate New Year's Eve Week with Paul Mooney, perhaps the funniest man alive. Sinbad is funny too and I'm not an expert but I have really enjoyed seeing Mooney for the past three years at Black Rep. He is a wonderful way to conclude an old year and start anew. I am really interested in hearing about the Judge Mooney show.

Tickets range from $25-$100 for the New Year's Eve gala. There are two shows nightly beginning Thursday, Dec. 27, at 8 and 10 p.m. On Monday, Dec. 31, there are three shows: 7, 9 and 11 p.m. The Black Rep is located at 3201 Adeline St. in Berkeley one block south of the Ashby BART Station. Call (510) 652-2120 or (925) 812-2787 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Freedom Now! Band at Eastside Cultural Center

Monday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m., $20, the New Year's Eve Party features East Side's own Freedom Now! Band featuring Howard Wiley and Ms. Faye Carol and special guest David Murray, at the new Eastside Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd., Oakland, (510) 533-6629.

A Night of Musical Resistance

Una Noche de Resistencia Musical or A Night of Musical Resistance features La Plebe, Aztlan Underground, Rupert Estanislao, The Brass Liberation Orchestra, Bolivar Vive! on Friday, Dec. 28, 2007, at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, (510) 849-2568 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Tickets are $10. The show is at 9 p.m.

A night which features various musical groups and one poet with different artistic styles and influences, yet joined by one universal cause and intention ... The Brass Liberation Orchestra plays in the streets of the Bay Area, carrying their instruments as weapons, while waging social warfare upon various events, protests, parades, celebrations and ceremonies with their renditions of worker inspired anthems. Bolivar Vive! plays a blend of ska, reggae, punk and other worldly influences, inspired by the acts of various international revolutionary movements, while the group Aztlan Underground from Los Angeles mixes elements of heavy rock, hip hop, pre-Colombian and indigenous rhythms, with lyrics that are both intelligent and defiant.

The solo and unaccompanied poet for the evening is Vallejo's Rupert Estanislao, who moonlights as vocalist for the hardcore group Eskapo. Spitting powerful lyrics in both English and Tagalog, Rupert speaks from the heart. And finally, closing the evening is the bilingual punk quintet La Plebe from San Francisco, who play fast and aggressive punk with horns, projecting a sincere sound that has found its home somewhere between the local BART station, the neighborhood cantina and the international concert hall.

A percentage of the door will be donated to the organization California Prison Focus, www.prison.org, to help in their fight for human rights and reform within the California prison system. More information about their work will be available the night of the event, as representatives will be present to answer any questions.

Learn more about La Plebe at www.laplebe.com, Bolivar Vive! www.myspace.com/bolivarvive, Aztlan Underground, www.myspace.com/aztlanunderground, Brass Liberation Orchestra, http://brassliberation.org, Rupert Estanislao, http://www.suicidekingsspokenword.com/rupert.html.

New Year's Eve Dance Extravaganza

New Year's Eve Dance Extravaganza with Jesus Diaz and The Cuban Connection is Monday, Dec. 31. Tickets are $25 in advance and $27 at the door. Doors open at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, (510) 849-2568 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Featured are Jesus Diaz, congas and lead vocals; Yanill Nario, bass and vocal (former member of Los Karachi and Son 14); Edel Roque, drums and timbales; Roberto Morri, trumpet and vocals (former member of Los Karachi); Abel Figueroa, trombone and vocal, (former member of Luis Enrique Orchestra); and Murray Low on piano. There's a special menu at Café Valparaíso, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. To make dinner reservations, call (51) -841-3800.

Bay View Arts Editor Wanda Sabir can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Visit her website, www.wandaspicks.com, for an expanded version of Wanda's Picks and for exciting "web exclusives."

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