What’s Going On 9/29

POLITICS 2022
November 8 is six weeks away, and America is filled with uncertainty about election outcomes. Democrats are running on issues like health, public safety, climate change, education, gun reform, and abortion rights. Republicans are running on complaints about President Biden, Democrats, progressives, post-COVID America lawlessness, and revenge. Political pundits are predicting gloom and doom, with a Red House of Representatives, a Blue Senate, or races too close to ca Midterms are different this year. Red and blue constituents are on the same page about no one being about the law or how fragile democracy can be even for the United States, the most powerful government experiment in modern history. The thought of living in an autocratic state is not appealing; downright scary!

Nations like Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, India, and Pakistan are not destinations for Americans contemplating ex patriotism. We do not want to live in a state rights ecosystem in the United States where rights are curtailed by the local governor and state offices or the US Supreme Court. Like it or not, it is essential to go to the polls and cast your ballot for the candidate who is hellbent on making America a better place, working toward that more perfect union. Team Joe Biden has its focus and energy in the right place for America. I don’t want to see young men resisting the war effort like they are in Russia today. I don’t want to see young women cutting and burning their hair because of orders issued by the morality police in Iran. The planet is in flux, and few understand the next chapter. We must get a grip on climate change for planetary survival.

ARTS AND CULTURE
FINE ART: The Africa Center and the Independent Curators International present STATES OF BECOMING, the first major contemporary art exhibition at The Africa Center since its transition from the Museum for African Art in 2013. Curated by Ethiopia-born Fitsum Shebeshe, October 14 through February 26, the exhibit includes works by 17 African Diaspora artists from`12 countries ( Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria) and one from Trinidad, which spans 30 years and explores ways in which African and Afro Diasporic identities coexist and shape each other. For tickets, visit programs@theafricacenter.org and curatorsintl.org.

THEATER: A STRANGE LOOP, the Broadway runaway hit by GenX playwright Michael R. Jackson, winner of the 2022 Tony for best musical and of a 2020 Pulitzer for the same play, is a theater masterpiece about a Black queer man writing a musical about a Black gay man. Jackson joined the LOOP cast last week during the curtain call, joyful and ecstatic upon learning that he made EBONY Magazine’s Top 100 Power List 2022!

WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE SEA is an Off-Broadway play in NY
City Center Stage, 131 West 55 Street, by Haitian writer Jeff Augustin, opens from October 10 to December 1. The story centers on a Haitian immigrant’s “once in a lifetime trip from Miami to California” and his estranged son, who travel the same route in reverse years later, which helps them bond.

Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 theater classic, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, about a Black American family’s quest for the American dream, makes its Public Theater debut from September 27 to November 6. Visit publictheater.org/rais

FILM: The Viola Davis feature film, “The Woman King,” about a Dahomey warrior set in the 19th Century, dominated the US 9/16 weekend box office revenues with $19 million. Davis has moved into her career’s Midas Touch phase.
The 60th NY Film Festival, September 30 to October 16, at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. “The Inspection” is a closing night film about African American Elegance Bratton and his experience as a gay man doing basic training in the US Marine Corps.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: The city’s most significant literary event, the Brooklyn Book Festival, will be held on October 2, from 10 am to 6 pm, at Brooklyn Borough Hall. More than 200 publishers and scores of authors will participate. On October 2, Brooklyn’s oldest and largest street fair, the 47th Annual Atlantic Antic Festival, returns, taking over Downtown Brooklyn, a mile-long stretch of entertainment, crafts, business, and food vendors.

PHOTOGRAPHY/HARLEM: All are invited to the African American Second Annual Photography Event, 2022, a family-friendly celebration with musicians, poets, and vocalists, curated by photog Mel Wright Picnics, Moments. The event will be held on Saturday, October 8, from 11 am to 6 pm at Central Park, Harlem Meer, 110 Street, between Lenox and Fifth Avenues. The group photo is set for 5 pm: call 718 644.3169 and 646 316.6825.

NEWSMAKERS
LIBRAN Happy Birthday shoutouts to Ruby Callender; CARDI B; Jimmy Carter POTUS 39; Al Cunningham, real estate developer; Bara Diokhane, fine Senegalese artist; David Greaves, Our Time Press Publisher; US Vice President Kamala Harris; DaniJ Horsford; Sunny Hostin, The View; Rev. Jesse Jackson; NY Attorney General Tish James; Wes Moore, Maryland gubernatorial hopeful; Photog Hakim Mutlaq; Celeste Morris, political consultant; Ademola Olugebefola, fine artist; Ron Scott, educator/writer; Rev. Al Sharpton; Michael Steele, former GOP Chair; Pat Stevenson, Harlem News Publisher; Will Smith; Jeannette Torruella, Cheryl Wills, NY1 TV anchor writer; USHER; and Serena Williams.

GALAS/NON PROFITS
NY-based Shared Interest will host its 28th Annual Gala, Sustainable Tech, a Virtual Program, honoring Inde Credit, a Zambia-based corporation, Dr. Gillian Marcelle, Resilience Capital Ventures, and William Asiko, Rockefeller Foundation. The Gala will be held on October 12 at 7 pm EST. Visit events@sharedinterest.org.

Woodie King’s New Federal Theater will host a Celebration of LaTanya Richardson Jackson at the Edison Ballroom, located at 240 West 47 Street, NY, on Sunday, October 16. It will be the center of gravity for the NY theater cognoscenti. For reservations, visit newfederal@aol.com. Acclaimed stage, film, and TV actress, LaTanya makes her Broadway directorial debut of THE PIANO LESSON, August Wilson’s Pulitzer classic, starring her husband, Samuel Jackson. This revival opens on October 13 at the Barrymore Theatre.
A Harlem-based consultant/historian, Victoria, can be reached at victoria.horsford@gmail. com