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Reel Sisters Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Tributes to Vinie Burrows, Tamara Tunie, Nicole Beharie at the Billie Holiday Theatre, Oct. 7

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Reel Sisters Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Tributes to Vinie Burrows, Tamara Tunie, Nicole Beharie at the Billie Holiday Theatre, Oct. 7

    reelsisters.org

On Saturday, Oct. 7, 6:30 pm, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series celebrates its 20th anniversary with and evening of poetry, dance, song and dramatic performances highlighted by special tributes to leading actresses Vinie Burrows,Tamara Tunie and Nicole Beharie at the Billie Holiday Theatre,1368 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, NY.

Founded by African Voices magazine and LIU Brooklyn Campus, Reel Sisters was founded to support and champion women of color in the film industry. Since 1997, Reel Sisters has showcased over 1500 films produced, directed and written by women filmmakers in every genre. Reel Sisters attracts more than 1,200 film lovers from across the nation and globe including California, Chicago, Florida , and as far away as Great Britain, Germany, Africa and India. Reel Sisters provides scholarships to emerging women filmmakers and offers other resources for women filmmakers. It also screens over 25 films each year.

The great Vinie Burrows (“Walk Together Children”) will receive the Reel Sisters Hattie McDaniel Award.

Nicole Beharie

Tamara Tunie (Law & Order: SVU) and Nicole Beharie (Sleepy Hollow), each, will honored with the Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award.

Among the many luminaries paying tribute to these legends are: award-winning filmmaker Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou) and LaZette McCants, founder of Volunteer Divas & Divos, Plus. Toni Yates (ABC News NJ Correspondent) will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies.

The event will open with poetic contributions by Spoken Word artist D. Cross and a performance of Urban Bush Women’s 1987 signature solo Bitter Tongue, a dance of resistance, by Love Muwwakkil. Reel Sisters will premiere That’s Why They Calls Us Colored, a short directed by Malika Franklin, featuring honoree Vinie Burrows as the lead actress.

The celebration will be held at the newly renovated “Billie” in Brooklyn.  Tickets: $45 (There’s a discount if you bring a pal.) For tickets visit: reelsisters.org or call 347-534-3304/212-865-2982.

The awards ceremony also kicks off the Reel Sisters film festival, which will be held in Brooklyn at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on October 21, 2017 and in Harlem at AMC Magic Johnson 9 on Oct. 21-22, 2017.

Tamara Tunie

“We’re very proud to have Tamara Tunie, Vinie Burrows and Nicole Beharie as our distinguished honorees for our Hattie McDaniel and Trailblazer Awards. Our honorees are exemplary of the generations of Black Women Magic that keep our communities and families whole — they are artistic geniuses who have paved paths for us to follow,” said Reel Sisters founder Carolyn A. Butts.

The festival established the Reel Sisters Hattie McDaniel Award to honor women who are pioneers in the fields of theater, film and media. Ms. Daniel excelled as an actress and performer in all areas of media including radio and television. The Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award recognizes honorees in the film and television industry for their outstanding accomplishments and professional integrity in opening doors for other women of color.

Previous Reel Sisters award winners include Cathy Hughes, Naturi Naughton, Issa Rae, Ebony Jo-Ann, Jessica Williams, Margot B., Neema Barnette, Julie Dash, Michelle Materre, Pearl Bowser, Shola Lynch, Lonette McKee, Mahen Bonetti, Mable Haddock, Moikgantsi Kgama, Irene Cara and Kojo Ade.

More on the Hattie McDaniel Award:
In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American woman to receive an Oscar.  Her stellar performance in the role of Mammy in Gone With the Wind earned her an Academy Award for supporting actress. Black audiences harshly criticized Hattie for portraying menial and stereotypical characters in films. McDaniel’s ability to add her own flair to her characters caused her to stand out when hired in the limited roles—in number and scope—that were available in Hollywood. Born Joanna Rose, Hattie was a talented singer-songwriter and comedienne who continued working in television and theater after her Oscar win, procuring her legacy.

Beyond Light Bulbs: How the BQDM Can Jump-start Energy Retrofits in Central Brooklyn

Akosua Albritton
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Beyond Light Bulbs: How the BQDM Can Jump-start Energy Retrofits in Central Brooklyn

By Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, Eddie Bautista and Mark Winston Griffith

How many millions of dollars does it take to change a light bulb? While energy wonks have praised the innovation of Con Edison’s Brooklyn Queens Demand Management (BQDM) program, low-income communities and communities of color in the BQDM catchment area have seen little improvement to their daily lives from the $200 million program so far.

The BQDM was launched in 2014 to address a growing energy shortfall projected for 12 neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. The main goal of the program was to reduce the energy demand by 52 megawatts (MW) total – 41 MW from customers and 11 MW from Con Ed. On the customer side, Con Ed’s quarterly reports for BQDM implementation show only about 5 MW-worth of program investments have brought tangible improvements for residential customers in 1-4-unit buildings and multifamily buildings. For those residential customers, upgrades have largely meant swapping out energy-inefficient light bulbs for LEDs, in most cases limited to common areas.

Given the potential impact this $200 million program could have, Con Ed’s focus on the low-hanging fruit for energy efficiency solutions in residential buildings is a disservice to impacted customers. The BQDM area includes over 750,000 residents – 90 percent of residents are people of color and 76 percent have a median household income below $30,000. Many of these residents, particularly in Central Brooklyn, are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of extreme heat. These customers are also likely to pay a significant portion of their income on energy costs, which makes keeping cool in the summer very costly.

Low-income customers, renters and customers with bad credit are excluded from many local and state energy efficiency and clean energy programs because they are unable to take on the associated debt. These vulnerable communities need more investment in solutions that not only reduce demand but also reduce energy costs. Widespread retrofits would keep homes cooler and healthier while investing in workforce development.

One possible approach Con Ed should consider is an innovative on-bill financing model known as Pay As You Save (PAYS)®, a market-based system that allows customers to purchase and install cost-effective upgrades through a voluntary, on-bill tariff. Energy efficiency improvements would lower the customer’s energy bill, even once the tariff is applied. This model is more inclusive than debt-based on-bill programs because PAYS® is available to customers regardless of income, credit score or renter status. The PAYS® model has been adopted by utility commissions in Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Hawaii and New Hampshire. New York State’s Clean Energy Advisory Council’s Low- and Moderate-Income Working Group even recommended a model similar to PAYS® in its final report. [1]

The Public Service Commission recently renewed the BQDM program for an indefinite period, authorizing Con Ed to spend the remaining $50 million in ratepayer funds on additional upgrades. This sizeable investment to Central Brooklyn should go beyond light bulbs and instead focus on more long-term, visionary solutions that make the energy efficiency and distributive energy economically more accessible. Governor Cuomo – who has already acknowledged Central Brooklyn’s vulnerabilities and needs via his “Vital Brooklyn” initiative – should work with the Public Service Commission and Con Edison to include low- and moderate-income communities in a just transition to the renewable energy economy by piloting the PAYS® model in the BQDM.

 

[1] Report on Alternative Approaches to Providing Low- and Moderate-Income (LMI) Clean Energy Services, Section 7.4 Finance and Access to Capital.

3 Community Organizations in Brooklyn Come Together to Distribute School Supplies

Editor, Our Time Press
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3 Community Organizations in Brooklyn Come Together to Distribute School Supplies

 

Community Givers. Tabitha Brathwaite, volunteer;
Brother Mike Harper, Sankofa Community
Empowerment; Jazz Fenton, Magnolia Board Member;
Brother Kwesi aka John Cummings; Andrea Brathwaite
aka Sister Cuchy, Magnolia Office Manager; and Brother
Quebutter

Magnolia Tree Earth Center of Bedford-Stuyvesant teamed up with Dreams Turn Reality and Sankofa Community Empowerment for Magnolia’s annual Back to School Drive, where bookbags and supplies are distributed to students up to high school.

Parents and students filled the main room at the Lafayette Avenue home of Magnolia, as Brother Quebutter, delivered an uplifting and motivational talk to the young people; telling of the greatness within them and how, through the greatness of each of them, they build the community. It was a talk that had them sitting up and speaking their names loud and proud.

 

Brooklyn Neighborhood Services Expands Coverage

Editor, Our Time Press
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Brooklyn Neighborhood Services Expands Coverage

By Richard Trouth

Brooklyn Neighborhood Services revitalizes underserved neighborhoods by creating and preserving affordable housing and providing opportunities for homeownership education, financial empowerment and community leadership; working in partnership with government and business, we are led by residents and guided by local needs.

This year is a milestone for us: On January 1, 2017, Brooklyn Neighborhood Services (BNS), formerly known as Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc.(NHSBS), declared independence from a network of organizations comprising Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City (NHSNYC).   In 2016, NHSNYC initiated a comprehensive strategic planning process to guide our work for the next three to five years. One of the outcomes of this process was a decision to change NHSNYC’s operating structure so that the neighborhood organizations could be nimbler and best respond to the needs of their respective communities; thus, four NHS neighborhood corporations became separate and independent. These newly formed community development corporations have maintained strong neighborhood partnerships as they continue to seek more opportunities to reach people in their perspective neighborhoods throughout New York City.

BNS has expanded our target areas to not only serve residents across northern Bedford-Stuyvesant and Central Brooklyn, but also across communities in Southeast Brooklyn, to now serve vulnerable homeowners, building owners and managers who have given the revised fold plain mapping that are now subject to new insurance provisions and government requirements to prepare their residential structures to prevent future storm damage. Our full menu of programs and services include: First-time Homebuyer Education, Down Payment and Closing-Cost Assistance, Tenant Counseling Services, Financial Literacy Education and Counseling (Youth & Adult), Resiliency Counseling and Education, FREE Income Tax Preparation, Rehab and Repair Grants for Senior Homeowners, LEAD Education and Outreach and Community Leadership Training.

In 2016, we provided pre-purchase homeownership counseling and education to 127 residents seeking to purchase their first home; we facilitated 23 first mortgages totaling $7.1 million; assisted 91 distressed homeowners in saving their homes from foreclosure by obtaining affordable and permanent loan modifications; we provided financial literacy counseling and education to 137 adults and 72 youth between the ages of eleven and seventeen; graduated 39 participants from the Home Maintenance Training Program; provided down payment and closing-cost assistance to 21 first-time homebuyers totaling over $240,000.00.

 

RestorationART presents Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company in A Retrospective Concert, September 22-24 at the Billie Holiday Theatre

Editor, Our Time Press
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RestorationART presents Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company in A Retrospective Concert, September 22-24 at the Billie Holiday Theatre

 

Opening Night Features Brown in Conversation with Dance Legend, Judith Jamison

In the year 1966, Robert F. Kennedy visited Bedford Stuyvesant and, with community activists, envisioned Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation; Judith Jamison completed her inaugural year with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and Ronald K. Brown was born in the place he still calls home, Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

For a limited weekend engagement, September 22 – 24, 2017, these three occurrences converge five decades later, as the cultural centerpiece of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, RestorationART presents Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company in a full-length concert for the first time at The Billie Holiday Theatre, launched with a conversation between Brown and dance legend and mentor to Brown, Judith Jamison.

“Brown and Jamison – from two different generations – embody the essence of ‘blood memory,’ as renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey called it; a remembering, a re-conjuring of a past that one may not remember cognitively, but may viscerally recall,” stated Dr. Indira Etwaroo, Executive Director, RestorationART.

“Evidence at The Billie Holiday Theatre and a conversation with Judith Jamison who passed Ronald the torch of dancing both spirit and revolution are historic cultural moments. The sounds, the rhythms, the rich cultural history of this community…Ronald K. Brown will bring our lives, our stories home to us.”

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence: A Retrospective Concert | Program & Ticket Information

Friday, Sep 22, 2017 from 7PM – 9 PM (Tickets: $50)

Opening Night Concert and Conversation, followed by a post-concert reception

This historic conversation between two dance greats – Ronald K. Brown and Judith Jamison – explores the legacy of choreographic works shaped by the Civil Rights Movement to works being created now in the era of Black Lives Matter. This conversation is followed by an evening-length dance concert by Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company. Evidence will present excerpts from High Life, inspired by the work of Jacob Lawrence’s The Great Migration, as well as Jesse B. Semple. The score for the work includes Bid Em In by Oscar Brown Jr, as well as music by the JB’s, Nikki Giovanni, Fela Anikalapo Kuit and Wunmi. The program will also include two solos with music by Donny Hathaway and the Lalah Hathaway.

Friday, Sep 22 at 7PM

Includes Opening Night Concert and Conversation | Tickets: $35

(Program Notes Above)

Saturday, Sep 23 from 7 – 9PM | Sunday, Sep 24 from 3 – 5PM | Tickets: $25.

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence: A Retrospective Concert

(Program Notes Above)

Tickets are available at RestorationART.org.

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Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company

Founded by Ronald K. Brown in 1985 and based at RestorationART in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Evidence, A Dance Company focuses on the seamless integration of traditional African dance with  contemporary choreography and spoken word. Through work, Evidence provides a unique view of human struggles, tragedies, and triumphs. Brown uses movement as a way to reinforce the importance of community in African American culture and to acquaint audiences with the beauty of traditional African forms and rhythms. He is an advocate for the growth of the African American dance community and is instrumental in encouraging young dancers to choreograph and to develop careers in dance. Evidence brings arts education and cultural connections to local communities that have historically lacked these experiences.

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company is a proud partner in RestorationART’s artistic coalition of leading producing residents working together to ensure the sustainability of arts institutions devoted to the stories of people of African descent. In addition to Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company, the producing residents include The Billie Holiday Theatre, Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop and ChoreoQuest.

Ronald K. Brown, considered one of the great choreographers of our time, shares with Our Time Press next week the range of influences in his life, including mentors, locations and experiences, that has informed his spirituality, his creativity and his ethic. The Los Angeles Times, in 2016, said “when atrocities in the name of religion dominate world news, choreographer Ronald K. Brown reminds audiences how faith can unite us, heal us and help us get through the worst that life and human nature can inflict. For more than 30 years his New York-based Evidence company has used a sophisticated amalgam of Afrocentric movement and modern dance to make spirituality not merely a passive state but something vibrant and transformative.” Evidence of those words comes alive on stage at The Billie, the weekend of September 22-24. Visit www.RestorationART.org.

 

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