We are honored that our latest short film Code Oakland (the first to be released for TEACHED Vol. II) will be playing this weekend at the San Francisco Black Film Festival. Check out our beautiful film page on the SFBFF site HERE. Producer/Director Kelly Amis will join other filmmakers for a Q&A after the screening.
For tickets, go HERE.
Oakland is a dynamic, diverse and ever-evolving city, with a strong history of activism and protest (it's where the Black Panther Movement began, for one) and a love of technology as a social justice tool.
We're so excited to launch our first youth screening series here in Code Oakland's hometown! The first event is at Impact Hub Oakalnd -- such a cool venue -- and one where we shot part of the film no less! This will be a youth-centered event to celebrate the stars of Code Oakland, especially the young up-and-coming tech stars featured in the film. Organized in collaboration with Oakland Public Libraries, Youth Radio, Downtown TAY, Black Girls Code, #YesWeCode, Qeyno Labs and other great local organizations, this fun event will include food, entertainment (the local all-girl band, Sisters Keeper!), the short film screening and a taste of the hackathon experience.
Then, we have two screening events coming up at Oakland Public Libraries, 81st Ave. Branch and Rockridge Branch. Some details on the flier below and more coming soon!
Thanks to the Kapor Center for Social Impact for sponsoring these great events for Oakland youth!
Go HERE to grab free tickets for the Impact Hub screening on May 9th, 6:30 pm. For the library screenings, just show up! We're going to give you an opportunity to see what coding & hackathons are all about -- NO experience required.
Haven't seen the Code Oakland trailer? Watch it HERE.
By Kelly Amis
Last night as protests and riots were unleashed in Baltimore, I avoided Facebook knowing what would be out there. Someone actually tagged me in a ridiculous statement just to start a fight (I didn't take the bait).
These are tragic times -- and they are a consequence of generations (of CENTURIES' worth of an entire people) experiencing the same racism, injustice, belittlement, a million daggers at the soul and body, and the severe, relentless consequences of economic opportunity inequality (which I think is worse in a society when there is SO much wealth and so little concern for how anyone makes it -- for example, using loopholes and placing your "headquarters" offshore to avoid paying taxes. That's also looting, but it impacts everyone, everywhere.)
I am GRATEFUL that I was teaching in South Central during the 1992 riots, because I knew the reality of what was happening there every day (though the media only focused on the Rodney King verdict, which was the match that lit the kindling): behind every insane story we hear on the news, like the King beating and now the Freddie Gray murder, there are a million big to small injustices we the general public doesn't hear about. It is tragic that we are still seeing this, but the underlying causes haven't changes (maybe they've even gotten worse).
Where does anger go when it must be swallowed for so long? I don't promote violence. But this is a reaction to violence, too.
We're excited to be going back to Oklahoma's deadCENTER Film Festival, where we screened our first film, The Path to Prison, to a wonderful audience of indie filmmakers (and indie film lovers). It's run by great people who are committed to art and social justice.
It's interesting to consider the importance of films that bring issues of race equality to the forefront, especially with some of the news coming from Oklahoma in recent months, where a fraternity was exposed for its deep-seated culture of racism (fortunately caught on camera). It makes one wonder, how far away is "history"?
It was in Okahoma where George McLaurin, a black teacher, was admitted to Oklahoma's school of Education, but only under Jim Crow laws, meaning he had to sit in a segregated smaller classroom, work in a segregated private space of the library, and only eat in the cafeteria during designated times when white students weren't present. In 1950, two years later, his case was argued in front of the Supreme Court in George W. McLauren v. Oklahoma Board of Regents for Higher Education, where this segregation was proven unconstitutional. But as we all know, changing laws and changing hearts and minds are very different things.
We look forward to bringing Code Oakland to Oklahoma and having some of the candid conversations with audiences that TEACHED is all about. For screening details, go to: http://www.deadcenterfilm.org/
Have you ever heard a white person say something like: slavery is over, why don't blacks ____ (fill in the blank)? I wonder the opposite: how does anyone continue to have spirit, strength and hope in a country where this story can happen (and where Trayvon can happen, and Walter Scott can happen, and millions and millions of stories known or unknown to the public can happen...over centuries)?
I know. I talk about this a lot. It's because I have had the honor of teaching and working in black communities (not to mention being "adopted" by my second family in DC) but also because I know HISTORY. On the black-white issue, we have comparisons to make to South Africa's apartheid, but another comparison we need more people to see has to do with Germany and the Holocaust. Michelle Alexander calls what is happening to black men in America a "silent holocaust," and I agree. (Read her book The New Jim Crow if you haven't).
The important question is, I think: if you could go back to Germany in the 1930s, recognizing what was happening around you (or to you), what would you do? Today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. what a good day to reflect on history and change the future.
What will you do?
Kelly
Here's the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/15/closing-the-book-on-jon-burge-chicago-cop-accused-of-brutally-torturing-african-american-suspects/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3
Yom HaShoah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_HaShoah
Our newest film, Code Oakland, is already getting into film festivals not just around the U.S., but the world! We have screenings coming up in St. Tropez, Canada and even one in India (not on the list yet -- stay tuned for those details). Meanwhile check out the dates for the Art of Brooklyn, Julien Dubuque, Humboldt Internat'l, "(In)Justice for All" in Chicago and more.
Go to our screenings page for dates & details.
Also, if you're in the Bay Area, save the date of May 9th, 6:30-8:30, for a very special screening of Code Oakland at Impact Hub Oakland! Details coming soon.
Thanks to React to Film, NYCAN & its Exec. Director Derrell Bradford, the Museum of the Moving Image and the staff of Loudspeaker Films, we had a fantastic premiere screening of Code Oakland in NYC. Read the details here, the press release here and watch the student presentation and panel discussion HERE.
Our Producer/Director Kelly Amis and Code Oakland film star Kalimah Priforce also got to join React to Film in ringing the Nasdaq bell! Thank you to React to Film founders Dennis and Coralie Dennis for this amazing opportunity.
This is interesting, from Education Week (article follows):
"One in 4 (American) teachers report leading class longer than the length of the school day, according to a new analysis of a national survey"...."That's only possible...if teachers are lecturing in empty classrooms, have no lunch breaks, team-teach, or teach students in overlapping shifts. While the last two do happen—rarely—the first is ridiculous...and the second would typically run against teachers' contracts."
So American teachers have been over-reporting how many hours they spend in front of a classroom (over-reporting to a degree that can't be argued: 25% claim they are working longer than the actual school day itself). And these numbers don't even begin to look at the massive variation in what teachers are actually doing when "leading class," only how long they say they are doing so.
We love good teachers. We honor good teachers. Good teachers and schools are arguably the most direct way to eliminate inequality and promote democracy in America. But we also see that the profession has become one dominated by a culture of non-accountability, negativity and refusal to acknowledge reality that is sometimes, as this article reflects, truly unbelievable. How did the research mentioned below get used so much (U.S. teachers were supposedly teaching class up to 73% more than in other countries?!)?
Please join us for the premiere and celebration of Code Oakland, a new TEACHED short film by Kelly Amis.
The evening will include a performance by local girls band Sisters Keeper, music by DJ Oracle, and a chance to meet the stars & director of Code Oakland. It is brought to you by West Wind Artists, Youth Aid (both founded by performer & music producer D'Wayne Wiggins) & Loudspeaker Films, and is generously sponsored by the Kapor Center for Social Impact, the Salesforce Foundation and the Port of Oakland.
We'll have scrumptious food (including veggie options), a hand-crafted cocktail created by local mixologist Danny Ronan, delicious organic teas provided by Numi and tastings of fine wines from Clos Pegase, the Clif Family Winery, Cal Vin & Hocks and other generous donors.
This is an invitation-only event; please RSVP by Jan. 27th.
Parking is limited: please use public transportation, a ride service, taxi or carpool. The nearest BART station is Coliseum. You can walk from there (10 -15 min.) or grab a taxi to Mindseed SoundStage.
Haven't seen the Code Oakland trailer? Watch it HERE.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
