Black & White Issues in a Blaze of Color

When the movie camera simply bares witness, the lines blur between documentary and narrative film. Such is the case with the brilliantly simple art that cinematographer Peter Biziou practices in the 1988 film “Mississippi Burning.” The film’s opening few minutes seem as if you are flipping through a Time Life historical pictorial review conveying a time in the not too distant past that is burned into the collective memory of my generation.  And yet, it still clearly demands to be reviewed anew in  today’s time.

No, Hollywood stars glide past the opening shots. In fact, of the few actors we meet in the quick minutes that follow, three of them are never seen again, yet they represent the real life characters who are the tragic heroes of this story. 

The film takes its inspiration from the true-to-life story of the night that three civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, went missing after heading back home from their work in Mississippi. For Andrew Goodman, a White college boy from the Upper East Side of New York City, it was his first and last day on a campaign known as “Freedom Summer.” The project focused on voter registration among Black Americans in Mississippi. If aspects of this story might sound familiar, make sure you are not confusing this drama with that of contemporary voter suppression efforts still unfolding in Georgia. 

A Young Gene Hackman (Anderson) and an even younger William Defoe (Ward)  show up in the very next scene as G-men (FBI agents) who have been sent to investigate the presumed race-motivated murders of these three young men. Though only one of them was Black, the other two were Jewish, so it was believed from the start that this was the work of the KKK. The two Federal officers are met with backwoods southern politics that still seem all too prevalent to me today when I visit certain areas of the south. It's clear they’re going to get nowhere fast and certainly with no help from the local Sheriff who is as open in his unwillingness to see justice done as are his deputies about their racism. They are deep in Klan country, and each of the FBI agents must learn to deal with that in their own way in order to solve these murders. But even with the heavy outside Federal law enforcement presence, the KKK is still emboldened and still committing their hate crimes. Including attacks against Anderson and Ward. Just to confirm again, don’t get confused with the rise of current Nazi and Klan fueled rallies.

We, or at least I, like Defore’s Northern-based character, understand his repugnance for these hate crimes. As such, we, like Defoe, are equally troubled by what seems to be a complacency from Hackman’s character. This agent, we learn, grew up in a small Mississippi town much like this fictitious one of Jessep County.  It is perhaps not until he pushes in uninvited to the local upstairs good ole boys beer swilling social club and delivers one of the best lines of the movie, despite fully knowing he is in hostile territories. Watching a few moments of the sports game that can be heard crackling over the old TV on the wall of the club he is asked if he likes baseball.  He answers back, “Yeah, I do. You know, it's the only time when a black man can wave a stick at a white man and not start a riot.” Now we understand what side of the lines he falls on and we are rooting for him.

The film also includes aspects of the national news coverage the investigation received in real life as well. On-air journalists interview locals about their views, which adds to the hybrid feel of documentary meets fiction film, or more fittingly judging from their answer, perhaps a horror movie.  Although the film covers some of the violence and threats the “left wing liberal media” (see even back then) experienced, In some ways it could convey even more to further demonstrate how the media in many ways became an agent of change during the civil rights movement.

Watching the film again on the eve of the 47th president attempts to curtail our Equal Opportunity Laws (put on the book by President Johnson of the same era as in the film), as well as all Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs, hits hard like a celluloid punch in the face. As well it should! It is a stinging reminder that racism is systemic in our country. It has at best been playing possum (to use a somewhat southern or Appalachian expression). However, make no mistake, it is being empowered and will, I fear, embolden grassroots acts of aggression and violence once more that might then simply be pardoned. 

Someone of today’s generation might wonder why Southern Blacks didn’t rise up and fight back. To that I say, you absolutely MUST watch the movie, but with your grandaddy. The haze of hate and anger hangs over this film like a stank southern summer day and even though it might cool slightly come nightfall there is no relief in sight, especially under the heat of a burning cross. It is even the rare White woman, in this case the wife of the deputy played by Frances McDormand, that intuitively knows it is wrong and eventually speaks up. But the Klan knows no boundaries even here, and stands by their man as he beats unconscious the women in his life that didn’t. 

Like Defoe’s character, and probably much like the young Andrew Goodman, I too find it hard to approach this issue in a professional manner, even as documentarian and journalistic. Sadly, it still taints my visits to the beautiful south. There is still, in my senses, the slight smell of burning timber from those Black Southern Baptist churches that fell to this hate. There is still the hint of sweat and blood in farmlands of the area, which stain the foundation of the otherwise stunning antebellum mansions. And, though the poplar trees bear no fruit, there is the everlingering threat that the south might “rise again” and yet bear a strange and bitter fruit. 

The Andrew Goodman Foundation continues the good work started by its namesake as well as the work of Chaney and Schwerner.

Visit: https://andrewgoodman.org/ and or Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/

Cinéma Vérité American Style

At the risk of self identifying, I will not be attending nor watching Monday's inaugural ceremonies. A choice. not from a place of denial, nor from a place of vehement defiance, as was demonstrated by many of those of this incoming administration back in 2020. 

As a filmmaker, journalist, and even more, a storyteller for cause, I have measured my intended neglect carefully. I am tuning out because I have accepted the inevitable oncoming mayhem that will be forthcoming due to this administration.  Whereas I cannot support it by hailing the ceremonies, I can neither join in the mockery of our late night variety shows because sadly, I firmly believe there are lessons to be learned for America and that starts officially on Monday. 

My infant country has never really suffered through an extremist government nor any of the issues that go with it. Whereas we could study our own external bad behavior where we have installed despots in some land where most passport-less Americans have never even thought of traveling, it is not real, simply because it was or is someone else's problem. Even our news media only begins to cover it, once it is seemingly, out of nowhere, a problem for the USA. The networks then report it as if Superman were now coming to the rescue of these poor souls who somehow got tied to the tracks of their own volition. So it should be no surprise that I will try to resist all temptation to watch the news from this day, neither on the news channels themselves, nor definitely not in snippet form on my social media feeds.  After all, now we know they won’t be fact checked. 

I also know that I cannot just simply turn the dial as it were, not only because that is a term and action of the past but also because I worry I will only witness more of the endless diatribe of reality TV shows that normalized bombastic interactions between housewives and basketball player's wives. Or even worse, encouraging people to risk everything, including their last modicum of pride for more possessions from Amazon. So, no, instead I will escape by turning to the movies, sort of. 

Though fictitious and at face value purely for entertainment purposes, movies and with rare occasions, made for TV films, can sometimes get us to see things in a different manner, pique our curiosity, or at worst, regretfully, even convince us of facts not in evidence. Just look at how TV programming shaped this incoming presidency and the perceptions of leadership.  

Movies are often at their best when they cast their projectionist light on some of the crucial topics and true to life stories of times gone by. And, it is for this reason why instead of tuning in to watch the monster truck pile up of inaugural attendees, I will be watching films from a list I have discerningly crafted representing the 100-plus years of American cinema.  

I have chosen one seminal American film (with one exception), one from each decade, drawing from examples of more than a century of bad behavior, scandal and corruption – political and financial. I have chosen only narrative feature films because even though there were a lot of documentaries that answered my criteria, I felt that watchlist would be too excessive, let alone an even more depressing playlist on this day of all days. It's also why I took obvious choices like “V for Vendetta” off the list as these selected screenings were more of intellectual reflection than a training session for the grand and inevitable rebellion. 

Instead I have chosen films, most that I have once seen and to which I have some storyteller’s connection. My list also includes three films I have never seen, but they answer the mission even in title alone let alone what I have learned of them through online blogs. 

Lastly, all the films deal with the various issues that suddenly seem current anew: institutionalized racism, systemic corruption, abuse of power; propaganda and misinformation; scapegoating and unlawful persecution; labor welfare abuse and exploitation; sexual misconduct and discrimination; and even over-entitled disillusionment that fuels the ignorance of recognizing the obvious truth. 

I invite you to watch any or all of these on your own and or feel free to check back in with me for my quick-wrap commentaries to which I welcome your film related comments, shares and likes.

My list is as follows:

1. 1910 D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, I will be watching the one with a new score by DJ Spooky.

2. 1920 Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, The new version with 25 extra minutes of restored footage.

3. 1930 Chaplin’s Modern Times a classic I last watched in a hip club and art gallery in Cuba.

4. 1940 I add Orson Welles Citizen Kane, a rosebud of my own film school days and clearly reflective of news media of today.

5. 1950 Next up is Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd starring an Andy Griffith like you’ve never seen and might never recover from.

6. 1960 Otto Preminger’s Advise and Consent, a political drama with an all star cast including many of Washington DC elites of the day.

7. 1970 Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men on the Watergate Scandal, need I say more.

8. 1980s Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning a film I watched last while visiting the south.

9. 1990 A much needed satire Wag the Dog by another of my film heroes, Barry Levinson.

10. 2000 Rise of Evil which kind of counts as two films and almost qualifies as a documentary. 

11. 2010 American dystopian action film The Hunger Games is the Martini shot as we call it in the biz and I might just have to pour one of my own at this point. 

12. 2020 And lastly, thinking man’s director Adam McKay cautionary grotesque tale Don’t Look Up.

See you at the movies.

Crossing into the New Year

There is a bridge I know high in the Himalayas. It crosses a vast and deep chasm where lush green abounds and rocky waters tumble below. One takes a moment both to appreciate the scenic splendor as well as question the humble engineering that promises to allow for your crossing forward on your continued journey. 

It is perhaps a measured apprehension as you consider briefly the structure's age, the many seasons of extreme weather, and the number of crossing it has thus far permitted. You know you too must now join those who have stood on this precipice, taken a breath, and the requisite leap of faith that begins the slow and mindful crossing. 

The sway of the bridge, though slight, is nonetheless measured. You dare not look down beyond your feet, between the wooden slates of your pathway. And yet, you’d be foolish if not to enjoy the unique journey with splendor you may get to see but only once in your lifetime. It is sublime. The air is fresh. You are and perhaps have never been more alive. 

The wind carries forth the good intentions of the thousands of prayer flags that drape and cover the main support cable. They make the most distinctive rhythm that is augmented by the flurry of your own beating heart song. These are the wishes of wellbeing, left behind by others. A sharing of mindfulness, of promise and a representation of the caring of community that though you may not see, surrounds you, reassures you, as you push to the other side.  

There is, as you well know, a pathway to be found on the other side.  It awaits you and though new to you and those with whom you journey forth, it has been traveled by others before, much like this bridge. Still, it is uncertain in its terrain, unknown in its heights as well as its descents, and, even more so, it is the road never ventured by you. 

Yet the voices of others, those that have come before you and those that will no doubt follow well beyond today can be heard echoing through the trees and the rush of the waters below. And, it is in this shared blessing, knowing that you have been graced with this moment in the here and now, the knowledge you have thus gained, standing between the then and the there, that you are renewed with commitment to welcome the new adventure. 

There is a bridge I now remember again in the early morning of a new year. It is perhaps with a similar measured apprehension of the requisite crossing from the old and well worn path into the new, that though even now with both the memory and the year behind me still, I am offered an ever relevant yet fresh perspective of my journey to tomorrow. A moment of my yesterdays that I can draw from as a metaphor for the very uncertain push into 2025.  

It is not necessarily a cautionary tale, for I know this journey, in part. Though new to me in this moment, it is similar to crossings I stood at the foot of before.  But, it is with equal mindfulness that I must draw from. I am best to remember to stand willingly in a limbo between my point of departure and all that I know and the place of uncertain footing on the other embankment.  

So I take in the air. I listen to the whispering of prayers of distant and seemingly unrelated ancestors. I bless the glory of nature and the regenerative bounty of the earth that stands as testament to the continuum of time with or without me. In this there is at least the comfort of perspective. The joyous union of culture. The promise of greater understanding. And with that practiced meditation, I cross, willingly, knowingly, into the New Year and stride forward into what will await in the next measure of time.

Happy & Blessed New Year.

Audio Block

Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Beyond a Prayer

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

My work as a documentary filmmaker and journalist not only enables unique working travel experiences, it affords me a place at the table where vital conversations are taking place on some of the most pressing issues of today. Always tempered by either an international viewpoint or cross cultural perspective, the tone and tenor is more of what might otherwise be experienced at a dinner party –impassioned but grounded in courtesy. One such recent dialogue I was privy to, and a conversation I have been tracking for more than two years now, is the issue of “human mobility.” One such location most recently was Abu Dhabi.  

On November 19 through the 21, with the magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque as our backdrop, a gathering coinciding with the international day of the child took place. It brought together a very interesting and perhaps unexpected group addressing in part, how forced displacement puts children at the crossroads of the issue and leaves them the most vulnerable. 

The gathering was the 6th Global Forum of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC), led by Secretary General Dr. Mustafa Y. Ali and  co-hosted by a local Emirates organization lnterfaith Alliance for Safer Communities led by an exemplary woman from the region, Dana Humaid Al Marzooqi. In addition to her nonprofit work she also serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United Arab Emirates Police Force. Although both represent nonprofits focused on children rights and safety worldwide, and known within a tight-knit group of NGOs in attendance, neither are often found at the top ten list of groups most regular folks, like me, might come across.However, they very much should be judging from my experience at this impactful convening. And, in greater part it is why I will be sharing some of these resonate voices throughout the month.

Mr. Hamad Kathir of the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities and Dr. Mustafa Y. Ali (r) of the Global Network of Religions for Children open the 6th Global Forum in Abu Dhabi.

The gathering boasted approximately 600 participants deeply connected to children's rights and wellbeing, which was already testimony unto itself. I was there to present a song called “Stand Together,” written by my friend Michael Orland (of American Idol) and performed by the young up-and-coming singer Anandita to raise awareness and funds for displaced placed children around the world.

Judging from a quick scan of the crowd, one could safely assume that the majority were affiliated with a religion or a faith-based organization, some large like World Vision, some from less often thought of religions such as the Baha'i faith. NGOs at the gathering of course included large ones like the Pan American Development Foundation and its big sister Organization of American States, both out of Washington, DC with offices throughout Latin America. Although I know both organizations well, particularly for their work with displaced children throughout South America and the Caribbean, I learned even more through my interview with Nadia Cherrouck, Chief of Staff, PADF and María Julia Garcete, a social worker and General Director of InterAmerican Institute for Children and Adolescents of the OAS. During our conversation Cherrouck addressed the cross section of her organization's collaboration with faith leaders in protecting children throughout the region. “In Latin America and the Carribean you have one of the youngest populations in the world. Working with these stakeholders, allows us to create a safe space for children to thrive by finding the right tools for education, providing them with security, and a space where they can grow and in turn give back to their communities.”

Jeff Oppenheim interviews María Julia Garcete of InterAmerican Institute for Children and Adolescents of the OAS

Other organizations were smaller grassroots ones that were just as impactful in the scope and commitment to how they served children, such as the Global Impact Initiative out of Austin, Texas headed by Anjum Malik.  “Our focus is refugee stabilization and integration.” Her organization serves mostly on a local level, assisting adult immigrants find jobs and working to enroll children in school.  She focuses on what she describes as cross-generational “livelihood development.” An immigrant from India herself, but now a longtime Austin resident, her own experience informs, at least in part, her humanitarian work helping to establish and acclimate new arrivals by creating purpose so that they can enjoy a “lifetime of stability, a lifetime of success.”

Education was indeed a recurring theme as a basic right of the child and academia itself was well represented at the Forum, both in person and online. The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty headed by committed visionary Dr. Jeremy Everett, as Founder and Executive Director. The focus of their work uses a collective impact approach to build coalitions of likeminded stakeholders committed to ending hunger in their communities and school districts. Texas was further represented by my friend and colleague Dr Luis Torres-Hostos, Founding Dean and Professor, School of Social Work, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley. He also heads up the Human Mobility Institute with which my own work in the area of children on the move is linked. Beyond their combined expert and dedicated offerings to the dialogue in the U.A.E., both of these practitioners represent an often neglected, yet very real aspect to global humanitarian work, that being that the United States, in all its wealth of resources, also faces gross disparities that impact our own citizenry, particularly our children. Dr. Everett, who is also a theologian and religious leader, spoke to the greater issue of hunger in America and how it particularly impacts children, inclusive of his home state of Texas, despite having the most farms out of any US state.

Dr Torres, serving on one of the breakout panels, brought this localized issue further to light by sharing his work in the Rio Grande Valley, an area which has been at the center of the heated immigration conversation throughout the United States.  “Many of the folks in the valley feel like they are forgotten,” Torres says. “They’re second class citizens,” he adds. In speaking specifically of the southern border area he explains the unique dynamic of the region as a ‘B-3’ territory, “Bilingual, bicultural and binational.”  But in this he cites “We have a natural laboratory right here in the Rio Grande Valley on how to develop global citizens starting with binational citizens.” 

One of the keynote speakers at the Forum was a man named Kul Gautam, a former Unicef and United Nations senior officer who directly speaks to global citizenry, not only from his own upbringing and education but his background as a former peacekeeper. Gautam is officially credited with helping to broker a temporary ceasefire in war-torn El Salvador during its civil war. The war raged on from 1979 to 1992 and pitted the government and military against leftist guerillas and civilians suspected of supporting them. It was, as I learned from an interview with the diminutive in stature but energetically grand Gautam, this represented the first time the United Nations and Unicef learned of the requisite value of working with and through local religious leaders. In this case it was the Catholic church as it was the only entity that both sides of the conflict held any trust. As such, Unicef was able to broker a temporary halt in the fighting, long enough to medically attend and inoculate the local children. “Religions, since time immemorial, have done many good things to lift up people’s spirit, to inculcate values, culture, but it is also true that in the name of religion a lot of bad things have happened.” He went on to say, “Many of the actions in the field, sometimes carried out by local priests, are not so enlightened.” He cites child marriage as one of those egregious violations of youth rights sanctioned and officiated by religious leaders. “What this conference is about is [exploring] can we bring out the best in our scriptures, the best in the teachings of our great prophets and diffuse that and make that the driving force for the wellbeing of children and their rights.”

 Kul Gautam, a former officer of Unicef and United Nations

Gautam’s life work demonstrates the requisite need for dialogue between human rights organizations, such as Unicef, and all pillars of civil society, inclusive of religion. The successful experience in El Salvador ushered forth a new era of bringing religious leaders to the table or perhaps more appropriately, it had the global peace entity requesting a seat at the tribal table of leadership to seek collaborative change . 

Panning the large venue in the Park Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi with my camera, I was experiencing something similar. Especially having left my own native America right after the election results of the 47th President were announced. In truth, I departed with more than a worry that the age of political reason might now be over. But also, I recognized that might be what I have in common with those that voted the president elect into office – a growing distrust of political leadership to truly serve the common good. Now, having travelled halfway across the world, I was listening instead to the calm and considered discourse of religious leaders from different faiths and different parts of the globe.  Although they were gathered over the common good of the child, inherent to that was the discussion and requisite need to heal and protect our collective future. The message was delivered, in part, from the mainstage event, but what was more potent was the dialogue transpiring both in the breakout work sessions as well as the casual exchange in the lobby and over lunch. 

Not having been raised of one religion or another, I should have been the least comfortable among this crowd and perhaps somewhat cautiously distrustful. Yet even where I might be quick to point out where religion has too often been the cause of conflict and discord, inclusive of the abhorrent abuse of children, these leaders were even quicker to not only call this out but they gathered to put measures and tools in place to change and heal from within.  This charge was set from the outset by Gautam’s opening remarks.

As I moved from main venue events to side room breakout sessions, I was privileged to lean in at their table and learn of the collective efforts to educate themselves to better serve the communities that each of these leaders represented. I learned of tools and methodologies that they and the visiting NGOs were working overtime to put into place and propagate throughout regions in desperate need of reform.  And, I was witness to a concerted commitment and accord to protect children against violence and abuse and eradicate ancient harmful traditions such as female genital mutilation (FGM) inasmuch to put measures, tools and training in place to protect against the newer threats inherent in the online exploration of children. There were even deep and very progressive discussions of climate change, including the creation and greater implementation of an SDG Academy and a definitive connection to ending child poverty. A program led by Reverend Fred Nyabera, a social scientist and a trained theologian. “Poverty is the gravest global injustice and the worst kind of violence,” the Reverend shared. In a calm but very determined way he brings home the fact that although significant progress has been made under the Millennium Development Goals (or SDGs), without renewed commitment and radical new actions, millions of children will still be suffering chronic malnutrition and even starvation. “We must redouble our commitment to put the most vulnerable and children living in poverty high on the agenda of faith communities and the international community.” More than blind faith, the Rev Nyabera is taking bold steps through the foundation of his academy and the diligence in which he seeks partnerships to address his true calling of ending child poverty.

By the last day of the conference, surrounded by this diverse but collaborative community, I began to feel a distant but familiar emotion creep over me – hope.  Something that perhaps I am best advised to be mindful of in my line of work that must have me ask questions and remain objective. However, a sentiment that on the humanistic level, I will admit openly I cannot motivate truly without. Here, I could carefully stay reflective because this was the good intention and bold leadership of others being discussed and demonstrated under the palm trees and warming sun of our beautiful host country.  And,  all for the sake of another. In this case, all for children.  

Kailash Satyarthi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner

The last interview of my visit was with Kailash Satyarthi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work through his foundation that focuses attention on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain. Sitting across from this humble, soft-spoken but learned gentle man, his soft grey-blue eyes deeply  conveyed the integrity of his intentions as much as his accented and deliberately articulate words offered a clear call to action. “All religions are born out of one spark,  that is compassion. Compassion is not a complicated issue, it's very simple. Selfless, mindful problem solving is compassion.”  A gentle smile warmed his face as much as it did stir a determined acceptance to his clear instructions:.” Take action to solve the problems.” 

As I headed home, I scribbled in my journal throughout my 14 hour flight, even at one point realizing we were flying near or even over war zones such as Palestine and the Ukraine. Below me were the demonstrated acts imposed on the many by political leaders driven by the sole intent of economics and gain for only a few.  Looking out on the glorious horizon of a setting sun from the 30,000 foot perspective, I willingly yielded to the good work of the few I had met at the conference who were representing and working for the greater good of the many. In this I decided that even beyond hope, or for that matter prayer, it was in their actions that I put even greater stow. In that, I found recommitment to my mantra and renewal in my work knowing once more that “dialogue and discourse are the humanitarian’s way to lead positive change.”