Eesuu and his son came to the Casper Banjo artist fundraiser Friday. Orlondo is in the background

Omar Sosa Quartet was awesome last Sunday night, and I hope I get to see Billy Cobham. He’s at Yoshi’s in Oakland through Sunday. I also want to get over to Jazz at Pearl’s before it closes its doors this month for good. Kim Nalley is a fine artist and was a great club owner too.

I keep missing folks at Anna’s Jazz Island in Berkeley like Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins’ director, W. Allen Taylor, a couple of weeks ago, not to mention all the Muziki Roberson concerts with Dwight Tribble. I still haven’t gotten by the New Earth Artists’ Cafe for Sunday afternoon jazz and poetry, 4-7 p.m. on Park Street near the Parkway Speakeasy Theater in Oakland.

And I missed Slide Hampton last week at the Oakland Public Conservatory. Glen Pearson, my newly tenured colleague at the College of Alameda, told me it was great! I was writing my story on California Poet Laureate Al Young, who received the Fred Cody Award this past Sunday at the Northern California Book Reviewers Association Awards event at the San Francisco Main Library’s Koret Auditorium.

Artist and poet Frances Dunham Catlett is celebrating her 100th birthday Saturday.

Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, co-directors of “Body of War,” met Bay View Arts Editor Wanda Sabir at the screening of their unforgettable new film.

Films

Al Young signing a book for a fan

When we meet Ezra at a Truth and Reconciliation Hearing, he cannot sleep, haunted by memories of the atrocities he witnessed and committed – most committed in a drug induced haze. It’s terrible the way, through flashbacks, the audience sees how little the children’s lives are valued. Killed just for complaining about the lack of food, fatigue or the murder of family and friends when the raids take them to villages where they once lived – Ezra is Africa’s child, an Africa where children, boys and girls, are the new frontier for battle.

It’s not revolutionary to take a child and make him into a killer. One wonders about these men who do so. This is hinted at when Europeans meet with the adult leaders and supply the troops with drugs, which are injected into the children who are almost half-starved. They are then pumped up and ready to do whatever they are instructed.

There are government troops also who are fighting. It gets confusing sometimes trying to figure out who the good guys are or if there are any good guys. Ezra’s wife volunteers to fight in the revolutionary war. When she meets Ezra and other kidnapped children, she is disgusted. Her parents were revolutionary, well-known and well-respected until they were captured and killed.

I really like her character and that of Ezra’s sister, who is deaf. Aduaka’s characters, the ones mentioned and others, show the complexity of warfare and how, when it involves innocent people, there is no justification. “Ezra” screens Sunday, April 27, at 9 p.m. at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Tuesday, April 29, at 3:30 and Thursday, May 1, at 6:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Visit www.sffs.org and www.newsreel.org.

“Body of War” also looks at these issues, also through the lens of a survivor. The Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro film looks at the life of Tomas Young who enlists after President Bush asks Americans to join the fight against terrorism. He thinks he’s going to Afghanistan and ends up in Iraq. He says he doesn’t fire his weapon because all he sees are civilians, yet after five days he is shot through the back of the neck and returns home paralyzed from the chest down. “Body of War” is his story, and what an amazing and heartbreaking and triumphant story it is.

Spiro is a great storyteller with her camera and the way she and Donahue allow Tomas’ story to frame the fiasco Bush has gotten this country into with the permission of Congress is an important reminder. It is also a reminder of why the framers of the Constitution did what they did and how important, even if overruled or outvoted, it is to object.

“Ezra” looks at the trauma of war, as does Tomas’ story. Ezra is 17 and when we meet him, Tomas is 25. I think to myself, these could be my sons – these are our sons.

On another note I watched a lighter film, “Love and Other Four Letter Words,” which was great! It stars Tangi Miller as “Stormy LeRue,” a successful talk show host about to go national who gets a call from home about her grandmother, which makes her reevaluate her life. What is fame if you don’t have a family or anyone to share it with?

To encourage her grandmother, “Nana” (actress Aloma Wright), to get better she tells her that she’s getting married in six weeks. There is no groom in sight, but her old flame, “Peanut” (Flex Alexander) is looking mighty fine, but he’s a pastor and Stormy doesn’t even consider him for her scheme she and her assistant (portrayed by actress Essence Atkins) cook up with a stripper, who’s not too bright but agrees to Stormy’s terms. There are many twists and turns in the comedy, which of course has a happy ending. I needed that after watching “Ezra.” The DVD is available now for $14.98 from One Village Entertainment.

Bay Area National Dance Week

Bay Area National Dance Week begins Friday, April 25, and runs through Sunday, May 4. Visit www.bacndw.org/schedule.php?day=1.

Youssoupha Sidibe

Kora player from Senegal Youssoupha Sidibe performs Friday, April 18, 9 p.m., at Ashkenaz Music and Dance Center, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, (510) 525-5054. All ages are welcome.

‘Medea’ at Oakland School for the Arts

Check out the play “Medea” at the Oakland School for the Arts Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19, 7 p.m., $5 for students. OSA is located at 1800 San Pablo Ave., in downtown Oakland. For information, call (510) 873-8800.

Urban Comedy at the Black Rep

Urban comedy has come full circle. Now it’s returning to the kind of venues and to the brand of outstanding up and coming talent that helped it shape its own identity. Full Circle Entertainment, producers of the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition & Festival, in association with Black Repertory Group, present The Best of The Bay Comedy Series. This monthly series will showcase top performers from popular cable shows and the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition & Festival.

Featured are HBO and BET’S Derrick Ellis, TV ONE and BET’S Howard, Comedy Central’s John Alston, Cereus B.T. Kingsley and special guests. The show begins at 10 p.m.; the doors open at 9 p.m. at the Black Repertory Group Theatre, 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley. Advance tickets are $20. Online ticket specials are available at blackcomedycompetition.com. For information, call (510) 652-2120. I was told this show would be good, but I haven’t gone yet, so I don’t know if it will be conscious or raunchy. I’ll have to let you know next week. So this is a “Pick” with a caveat.

Dimensions Dance Theatre presents the World Premiere of “Cross Currents”

At the San Francisco Arts Festival last year, Dimensions Dance Theatre, with live music and an original score by Anthony Brown, presented an excerpt of this world premiere, opening at the Malonga Casquelourd Theatre, 1428 Alice St. near downtown Oakland, Saturday, April 19, 8 p.m., and closing Sunday, April 20, 3 p.m. Yes, if you blink, you will miss the wonderful story of African Americans and Japanese Americans during the war years in San Francisco’s Fillmore District.

It sounded so much like Brown’s story, how his father and mother met and their lives here in the Bay Area, but that was an excerpt. Admission is $25 general, $20 for children and seniors. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Marcus Books, 3900 MLK Jr. Way, in Oakland, (510) 652-2344, and online at www.ticketweb.com.

Ms. Frances Dunham Catlett: Celebrating a Century of Creativity

Celebrate the life and work of artist and poet Frances Dunham Catlett, Saturday, April 19, 2-5 p.m., at the African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton St., in San Francisco: “Celebrating a Century of Creativity.” Please join AAACC in celebrating Ms. Catlett’s 100th birthday on Saturday, April 19, 2008 in the Hall of Culture. There will be a film screening of Ann Gorman’s documentary, “Aging Artfully”, in which Frances Catlett is featured, plus a one on one interview with Ms. Catlett – and birthday cake! Mrs. Catlett’s exhibition is featured in the Hall of Culture until May 4. For more information, contact Samara Brown at (415) 922-1995. I had a great interview with Ms. Catlett; look for it next week here and on-line.

150th Anniversary of Black Exodus

Sponsored by the African American Historical and Cultural Society and community partners including AAACC, this event, April 20, 2 p.m., at the African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton St., in San Francisco, will kick off a week of activities commemorating the 1858 exodus of African Americans from San Francisco to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

The spiritual ceremony on Sunday will bring together the churches who orchestrated this exodus that are still part of the community today, including First AME Zion, Third Baptist and Bethel AME. The ceremony will include drumming, gospel singing and spoken word. For more information about this event, contact Kristi Black at (415) 922-0623. For more information about the events during the week, contact (415) 292-6172 and visit www.sfexodus.org.

MoAD Family Day! Admission Free!

Saturday, April 19, is Target Community Day at the Museum of the African Diaspora, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 685 Mission St., San Francisco. Visit www.moadsf.org/visit/calendar.html.

It will be a lively, family-friendly day featuring Oakland’s Bantaba Ensemble, Mamadou and Vanessa, a Mali Blues trio and the Prescott Circus Theater’s drumming stilt walkers. Sample a taste of Ethiopia. Visitors can make jewelry from telephone wire, create textile designs and chalk murals. Museum admission and all activities are free to the public all day courtesy of Target.

United Front Protest for Mumia Abu Jamal

Saturday, April 19, 2:30 p.m., at 14th and Broadway, just after the Obama Rally is the United Front Protest for Mumia Abu Jamal. I wonder if Obama will address Mumia’s case. That would be great! So make a day of it in downtown Oakland this weekend. For more information, call (510) 839-0852 or visit www.partisandefense.org.

August Wilson’s ‘Fences’ extended through August

You have one more week to see this marvelous production, directed by Stanley E. Williams, with Alex Morris as “Troy Maxson” and Elizabeth Carter as his “Rose,” at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter St. at Mason, San Francisco. Visit www.lhtsf.org or call (415) 474-8800. Thursday nights all seats are $22. Tickets are $27-$32 Fridays, $30-$36 Saturday-Sundays, with $5 off for students and seniors.

Nikki Giovanni helps OPL celebrate National Library Week

Every year the Oakland Public Library features a wonderful poet or writer to celebrate libraries and reading and writing. This year, Nikki Giovanni is their guest for a special evening of conversation in the James Moore Theatre at the Oakland Museum, 1000 Oak St. at 10th in Oakland. For information, call (510) 238-3271. The event is free and light refreshments will be served. The doors open at 6:45 p.m. and seating is limited, so arrive early. Visit www.oaklandpubliclibrary.org for all the National Library Week events.

Mo’ Rockin’ Project CD release party

This coming week, Mo’ Rockin’ Project will hold a CD release party at Yoshi’s Jack London Square, 510 Embarcadero, West Oakland, (510) 238-9200 or www.yoshis.com.

Billy Cobham & Friends Kenny Barron, Randy Brecker, and John Williams

Billy Cobham, the supper drummer with the super band, concludes his two week stay in the SF Bay in Oakland this week Wednesday-Sunday at Yoshi’s Jack London Square. Visit www.yoshis.com or call (510) 238-9200. The Mingus Big Band is coming in next week and Rachelle Ferrell opens May 1-4, all in Oakland.

Omega at Rassela’s Jazz Club on Fillmore

Omega will be performing at Rasselas Jazz Club on April 18 and April 25 at 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The Ugandan vocalist is fabulous! Her new album, “Kiwomera Emmeeme,” releases May 27. At 4 she was enrolled in the internationally acclaimed African Children’s Choir and now has a master’s degree in health advocacy. She has worked as a consultant and researcher for several health organizations. She helped start the Alpha and Omega School in Kampala, Uganda, a school that provides mostly scholarship-funded primary education to over 300 pupils. And get this: She performed with Simone at an event to celebrate what would have been Dr. Nina Simone’s 75th birthday. Rasselas is at 1534 Fillmore St., San Francisco, (415) 346-8696. You can visit www.rasselasjazzclub.com and www.omegaworldmusic.com.

Barack Obama in Oakland

Saturday, April 19, 12 noon to 2 p.m., presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama will be in downtown Oakland once again, at 14th and Broadway in front of City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza. Arrive early. He’s a rock star.

On Saturday, coming just before the April 22nd primary in Pennsylvania, thousands of people will gather together in cities across the nation and abroad for the Nation for Change Nationwide Rally in support of Barack Obama.

Speakers include Lawrence Lessig, Founder of Change Congress; Obama surrogate Tony West; Reverend Elouise D. Oliver; Council Woman Nancy Nadel and Council member Tony Thurman

Performers include East Bay Church of Religious Science International choir; Daughters of Yam, who include Devorah Major, Opal Palmer Adisa with drummer Val Serrant; neo-soul singer-songwriter Martin Luther; and a brief appearance by singer Goapele. Other local artists include Daniel, Monique DeBose, Kev Choice, Gisela Tangui and the Voodoo Cabaret, and youth performer Trinidad.

These nationwide rallies are truly historic in that they are not sponsored by any campaign, business, organization or entity, but rather spring directly from the people. In alignment with Sen. Obama’s grassroots style of organizing, these events have been organized in a bottom-up model.

As of April 5, there are already 680 organizers coordinating and planning the “Nation for Change” nationwide rally, and this number is increasing by the hour. Each joined a group at www.barackobama.com in order to demonstrate their actual numbers on a third-party site. For independent verification of these numbers, go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/NationForChangeYesWeStand.

For more information, go to http://www.nationforchange.com or contact Anne Stephens, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , (510) 759-2491.

Art Exhibit

This Friday, the exhibition “The Question is Known: Where is Latin American/Latino Art?” opens at Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, featuring the work of 30 artists, and curated by Anthony Torres. The opening reception is Friday, April 18, 7-10 p.m., at MCCLA, 2868 Mission St., San Francisco. For information, visit www.missionculturalcenter.org.

On Saturday, April 19, there is a free symposium co-presented by MCCLA and San Francisco Art Institute Graduate Program at the SF Art Institute, 800 Chestnut St., San Francisco, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Presenters include Gerardo Mosquera from Havana, art critic and historian and adjunct curator at The New Museum, New York; Alma Ruiz, curator, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; art historian and SF State Professor of Art History Judith Bettelheim; Hou Hanru, SF Art Institute director of Exhibitions and Public Programs and chair of the Exhibitions and Museum Studies Program; and artist and human rights activist Claudia Bernardi. The discussion will be moderated by exhibition curator Anthony Torres. Visit www.sfai.edu/questionisknown.

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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