4/24/21 O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY- BLACK LIVE MATTER: Michael Jackson- Loving Neverland

When you watch this documentary you see the systematic and deliberate racist destruction of Michael Jackson. Very insightful!  Continue reading

2/13/21 O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY: Frances Davis- Her Story (Life Before & After Miles)

Frances Taylor Davis shares her life history as a pioneering dancer with Katherine Dunham Dance Company, her marriage to Miles Davis and renewal after as a survivor. Continue reading

1/18/21 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: King in the Wilderness

HBO Documentary Films and Kunhardt Film Foundation present King in the Wilderness. The documentary chronicles the final chapters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, revealing a conflicted leader who faced an onslaught of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. While the Black Power movement saw his nonviolence as weakness, and President Lyndon B. Johnson saw his anti-Vietnam War speeches as irresponsible, Dr. King’s unyielding belief in peaceful protest became a testing point for a nation on the brink of chaos. Continue reading

1/19/21 O&A NYC LOCKDOWN LEARNING: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: American History for Kids

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, was a famous Civil Rights leader, pastor, and humanitarian. Continue reading

1/17/21 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Purlie (1981) | Robert Guillaume, Sherman Hemsley, Melba Moore

Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Phillip Rose and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld and choreography by Louis Johnson. It is based on Davis’s 1961 plaPurlie Victorious, which was later made into the 1963 film Gone Are the Days! and which included many of the original Broadway cast, including Davis, Ruby Dee, Alan Alda, Beah Richards, Godfrey Cambridge and Sorrell Booke. 

Purlie is set in an era when Jim Crow laws still were in effect in the American South. Its focus is on the dynamic traveling preacher Purlie Victorious Judson, who returns to his small Georgia town hoping to save Big Bethel, the community’s church, and emancipate the cotton pickers who work on oppressive Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee’s platation. With the assistance of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, Purlie hopes to pry loose from Cotchipee an inheritance due his long-lost cousin and use the money to achieve his goals. Also playing a part in Purlie’s plans is Cotchipee’s son Charlie, who ultimately proves to be far more fair-minded than his Simon Legree –like father and who saves the church from destruction with an act of defiance that has dire consequences for the tyrannical Cap’n.

Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Phillip Rose and Peter Udell

 

1/15/21 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater- Chroma, Grace, Takademe, Revelations (2015)


Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs Revelations, Chroma, Grace, and Takademe in this 2015 rebroadcast. Continue reading

1/11/21 O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY- ANYTHING GOES: Carib Gold (1956)- Ethel Waters, Cicely Tyson and Geoffrey Holder

Carib Gold (1956) is most notable for its largely African-American cast headlined by Ethel Waters, featuring the first known film roles for both Geoffrey Holder and 2019 Oscar Winner Cicely Tyson. The film is a maritime-themed B-movie, written and filmed almost entirely in Key West, Florida, with locally-cast musicians and extras. Continue reading

12/28/20 O&A NYC SONG OF THE DAY: The Kwanzaa Song – NGUZO SABA The Seven Principles

“Brothers & Sisters we have been blessed with a new day. Smiled upon with another opportunity to better ourselves. To strengthen our Families and support our community. Recite if you will”. -Clinton Sockwell II. Continue reading

11/24/20 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: Why We Fight – Bravery Comes By Answering The Call

John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights leader and politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and was the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death. Continue reading