Dialogic Cinephilia - April 5, 2018

Baldwin, James, et al. "I Am Not Your Negro." Making Contact (November 8, 2017) ["Master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for."]

Branch, Taylor and Trey Ellis. "MLK’s Fight Against Racism, Militarism & Capitalism: Historian Taylor Branch on King’s Final Years." Democracy Now (April 4, 2018) ["It was 50 years ago today when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. He was just 39 years old. We turn now to a conversation Democracy Now! recently had with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch and writer Trey Ellis, who both worked on the new HBO documentary “King in the Wilderness,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film recalls the last three years of King’s life, beginning after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite passage of the monumental legislation, King set his eyes on new battles by launching a Poor People’s Campaign and campaigning to stop the Vietnam War. King’s decision to publicly oppose the war isolated him from many of his closest supporters."]

Chang, Alvin. "Sinclair’s pro-Trump news is taking over local TV. See if they own your station." Vox (April 4, 2018) [The problem is not that Sinclair is pro-Trump, I don't want any corporation, no matter what their politics/perspective, to have this much influence over the news/media/information.  Currently Sinclair is trying to buy Tribune Media which will increase their share of local TV news stations nationwide from 40% to 70+% (including majorities in NYC, Chicago and L.A. - markets they have been unable to penetrate so far).]

Chang, Jeff. "On Revolutions in Seeing and Being." Making Contact (October 11, 2017) ["“From almost every kind of responsibility and tie from engagement and from faith. So the artist–our task is to move ourselves and the rest of us in the opposite direction. Toward more engagement, towards stronger ethics, toward a social that’s open and inclusive to all toward seeing each other in full, to challenge us to recognize the debts, and yes, the reparations that we owe to each other.” – Jeff Chang offers ideas to reinforce the importance of art and artists in today’s sociopolitical climate. Chang presented a keynote address for the Art and Race conference, that took place at Oakland Impact Hub earlier this year."]

Dewey, Caitlin. "The hidden crisis on college campuses: Many students don’t have enough to eat." The Washington Post (April 3, 2018)

Elk, Mike, et al. "Teachers in Revolt: Meet the Educators in Kentucky & Oklahoma Walking Out over School Funding." Democracy Now (April 4, 2018)
["Oklahoma’s public education budget has been slashed more than any other state since the start of the recession in 2008, and its teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation. Scores of teachers are planning to begin a 123-mile protest march today from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. Meanwhile, thousands of teachers continue to protest in Kentucky, demanding a reversal to a provision in a recently passed bill about sewage treatment that gutted their pension benefits. On Monday, every school in the state was closed either due to spring break or in anticipation of a massive rally in the capital of Frankfort, where teachers filled the rotunda of the Kentucky state Capitol, chanting “Fund our schools!” This year’s wave of teacher rebellions began in West Virginia, where teachers won a 5 percent pay raise after a historic strike. We speak to four guests: Oklahoma teacher Andrea Thomas, Kentucky state lawmaker Attica Scott, retired Kentucky teacher Mickey McCoy and labor journalist Mike Elk."]

ENG 281/282: 2000s Dialogic Cinephilia (Ongoing Archive)

Jilani, Zaid. "Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebrations Overlook His Critiques of Capitalism and Militarism." The Intercept (January 18, 2016)

---. "Martin Luther King Jr. Spent the Last Year of His Life Detested by the Liberal Establishment." The Intercept (January 15, 2018)

Levy, Lindsay and Francesca. "On the harrowing Lilya-4-Ever, directed by Lukas Moodysson. The F Word (June 16, 2003)