Speaker 1: And now.
Speaker 2: My mic back, you're like that, you can strike waters
Speaker 2: and head borders behind him.
Speaker 1: And then if you're just tuning into Civic Cipher, I
Speaker 1: am your host Ramses John.
Speaker 3: He is Ramses John, I am q Ward and you
Speaker 3: are once again tuned in to Civic Cycle.
Speaker 1: Listended, be sure to stick around because we still got
Speaker 1: a lot more so coming your way. I'm not even
Speaker 1: sure how we're going to really approach this, but we're
Speaker 1: going to talk about P and b Rock. If you're
Speaker 1: listening to this, there's a good chance you're listening on
Speaker 1: a hip hop station. This show exists for some real,
Speaker 1: specific reasons. But I didn't want this moment to pass
Speaker 1: without us dealing with some real, some real you know,
Speaker 1: in this show.
Speaker 3: So also before we move on, and you and I
Speaker 3: can both look into this to make sure that we're
Speaker 3: addressing this properly. It's a small thing, but it could
Speaker 3: be a major thing to someone else. I said the
Speaker 3: word dreads when I was living in Atlanta locks, and
Speaker 3: one of my colleagues that had locks corrected me. Now
Speaker 3: we can read up on the proper way to say
Speaker 3: that and the reasons why. But we said that in
Speaker 3: the first Lord Valerian had dreads. I want to correct
Speaker 3: us and say that he had silver locks, and we
Speaker 3: will educate the audience on why that's the case on
Speaker 3: a future episode.
Speaker 1: Sure locks, Yes, indeed, right now we're going to discuss
Speaker 1: how to become a better ally. This one comes from
Speaker 1: Major Threads, so shout out to Major Threads for sponsoring
Speaker 1: this installment. And the article comes via World Economic Forum.
Speaker 1: This is entitled four ways to be an ally in
Speaker 1: the Fight against Racism. So what we're doing is addressing
Speaker 1: systemic racism, So take notes if you want, or of
Speaker 1: course rewind the show or check out sibing cipher dot
Speaker 1: com and download it. But number one is understand that
Speaker 1: systemic racism goes beyond police brutality. It's much bigger. They're
Speaker 1: much bigger things in place, long standing ideals, so farth
Speaker 1: that need to be addressed. Number two, speak up against
Speaker 1: racism in the workplace and support black colleagues. This one
Speaker 1: is very important because racism oftentimes festers or as loudest
Speaker 1: when black people aren't around, and that's the most opportune
Speaker 1: time to address it. And if you are a non
Speaker 1: black person, you end up in those spaces and you
Speaker 1: can hear that you need to address it. Help us
Speaker 1: out target racism and education, promote what is known as
Speaker 1: critical race theory, but really is American history. I saw
Speaker 1: roots in the fourth grade. I'm fine, so did everybody
Speaker 1: else in my class. Number four Petitions and political engagement.
Speaker 1: Stay involved in the political process and just vote with
Speaker 1: your conscious. Visit weforum dot org to view examples of
Speaker 1: how to implement and learn more. All right, so, now,
Speaker 1: pnb Rock, what do.
Speaker 3: You know about this Philadelphia rapper? I think current Los
Speaker 3: Angeles resident someone that the hip hop community not only
Speaker 3: knows very well, but as you can tell from the outcry,
Speaker 3: was fond of not just fans, but even his comrades,
Speaker 3: his colleagues, the people that he shared the space with
Speaker 3: all seemed to collectively speak highly of his character and
Speaker 3: of his person. Him and his lady at Orosco's Chicken
Speaker 3: and Waffle, I think in East LA in a neighborhood
Speaker 3: that you know is maybe not right for celebrity or tourism.
Speaker 3: His lady sharing their location on social media. Some people
Speaker 3: think that has something to do with it. Maybe him
Speaker 3: just being followed to the location by someone who had
Speaker 3: an issue with him. And what I've read was an
Speaker 3: attempt at robbery. I saw a very traumatic video about it,
Speaker 3: and I was not given any preparation, Like the person
Speaker 3: that sent it didn't say, hey, before you watch this,
Speaker 3: it's this.
Speaker 1: I didn't see it, So I just.
Speaker 3: Touched a link and literally saw him lying in a
Speaker 3: pool of blood.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I didn't see that, dying but not dead yet.
Speaker 1: So it was it was worse.
Speaker 3: I'm not watching a steal person where that he's no
Speaker 3: longer animated, and I'm looking at the aftermath like no,
Speaker 3: watching him still like try to move. And again I
Speaker 3: was not giving any heads up. I didn't even know
Speaker 3: who it was when I saw the video, and then
Speaker 3: came the stories hours later of people even at that
Speaker 3: point still trying to figure out if it was who
Speaker 3: they thought, or who if it was who some people
Speaker 3: were reporting. Again, I read what was called a failed
Speaker 3: robbery attempt that could have just been a cold blooded murder.
Speaker 3: Of course, have no idea the reasons why, but they
Speaker 3: could be seen as very very obvious. When you put
Speaker 3: people in an environment and you create conditions where there
Speaker 3: are those that have it all or what appears to
Speaker 3: be everything, and you put them in an environment where
Speaker 3: there are those who have nothing. You create a predator
Speaker 3: prey environment, and a lot of people, a lot of
Speaker 3: sources will and I see a lot of our people
Speaker 3: speaking up angrily about the black on black crime aspect
Speaker 3: of this story, which I think it has very little
Speaker 3: to do with. It is a have versus have not scenario,
Speaker 3: It is a proximity scenario.
Speaker 1: It is a.
Speaker 3: If you listen to the show, Ramses and I are
Speaker 3: very very proud of where we're from. By nature of
Speaker 3: being from two of the coolest cities on earth, you know,
Speaker 3: pardon our bias, but our people, and maybe it's by
Speaker 3: nature of surviving the circumstances we're born into.
Speaker 1: We're typically really.
Speaker 3: Proud about where we're from, not just confident in Detroit,
Speaker 3: but Newark and Brooklyn and New Orleans and Ship the
Speaker 3: South Side of Chicago. Like I can name cities all
Speaker 3: over the world where the circumstances are the same. We
Speaker 3: are the have nots, and mass becoming an adult out
Speaker 3: of that environment where you're born to die, some may
Speaker 3: say and stills a certain pride in us right, very
Speaker 3: very proud of where we're from. But I know when
Speaker 3: I go back to seven Mile Road, you're from there.
Speaker 3: You do not still live there, sir. You are of it,
Speaker 3: or you were in it, but not of it. Right,
Speaker 3: there were some decisions you made that led you to
Speaker 3: be the father of two who gets to sit across
Speaker 3: from Ramses and talk about these very very sometimes difficult,
Speaker 3: but very necessary things. And when I go back to
Speaker 3: that space, I have to have a respect for it.
Speaker 3: There are predators in that space. And when I show
Speaker 3: up with my glasses on and my well tailored clothing,
Speaker 3: with any resemblance of opulence, with any resemblance of success,
Speaker 3: I am now the prey, even though I grew up
Speaker 3: in that very neighborhood. There is a respect required for
Speaker 3: going back into that space that sometimes we don't pay
Speaker 3: because we feel like we're entitled to be there. You know,
Speaker 3: I'm from here, just like you from here, And I
Speaker 3: put my pants on one leg at a time, just
Speaker 3: like you. Sure you do. But that thing on your
Speaker 3: neck cost seventy thousand dollars, sir, and I ain't got it,
Speaker 3: and the rent is due in two weeks, and my
Speaker 3: kids hungry too.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that because you mentioned that you know,
Speaker 1: I'm from California, comptent to be exacted. I was in
Speaker 1: California when he was shot. FU. I was just I
Speaker 1: was there, shout out to Big Boy. I was hanging
Speaker 1: out with the Big Boy. If you're a fan of radio,
Speaker 1: he's a mentor and oga mine and as the Boy
Speaker 1: as we're sitting down talking approximately at the time, we
Speaker 1: were just hanging out at Chick fil A. This happened
Speaker 1: not in the same part of town. I don't want
Speaker 1: to give that impression, but I'm you know, there in
Speaker 1: that place. And remember we live and broadcast from Arizona
Speaker 1: from Phoenix, so I was out of town anyway. Yeah,
Speaker 1: being from California, there's a particular association that I have
Speaker 1: with one person who lost his life who was from
Speaker 1: the hip hop community. That just hurt me differently, and
Speaker 1: that was Nipsey Hustle around. A lot of people will agree,
Speaker 1: but you know, I you know Compton is I'm not
Speaker 1: going to act like I grew up in Compton. I
Speaker 1: was gangbanging and this and that and the other. I'm
Speaker 1: from there, just like you was saying, I'm from there,
Speaker 1: so I know people from there. I know what the
Speaker 1: environment is like. I was there in the eighties. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, so I was there when it
Speaker 1: was the worst, and then of course my family stayed there,
Speaker 1: so that's where I have to go visit, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, that sort of stuff. Nipsey Hustle was
Speaker 1: the sort of person where, like, I get it, I understand.
Speaker 1: I know why you talk like that, I know why
Speaker 1: you move like that. You have to. You gotta swim
Speaker 1: in the stream, you know. And for those who know
Speaker 1: the story, Nipsey was killed by a black man. You know,
Speaker 1: we're talking about pm b Rock today, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. He was robbed. Pmb Rock was robbed at
Speaker 1: the Roscoes for his necklace and I believe his watch
Speaker 1: something like that. And this isn't one of those moments
Speaker 1: where talking about black on black crime is There's never
Speaker 1: a moment when talking about black on black crime is
Speaker 1: meaningful in matters, because black on black crime isn't a
Speaker 1: real thing. It is in the sense that a black
Speaker 1: person can commit a crime and another black person be
Speaker 1: the victim of it, But in terms of it being
Speaker 1: some sort of you know, epidemic sort of thing, it's not.
Speaker 1: That's not true, you know, any more than white on
Speaker 1: white crime is the thing you know, crime is crime,
Speaker 1: and the people closest to the ones they get it.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. If you're a criminal, or
Speaker 1: you know, if you're living a crime infested area, you know,
Speaker 1: if you get an argument with someone, chances are they
Speaker 1: related to you or they know you for a long time.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't just get in fights with strangers
Speaker 1: off the streets. Usually getting strike fights with people you know.
Speaker 1: Those people tend to be closely associated with your tribe.
Speaker 1: And so this is the way that works. So black
Speaker 1: on black crime as a term is something that was
Speaker 1: created and it's meant. The intention is to put the
Speaker 1: blame for black people's problems in the lap of black people,
Speaker 1: which in principle sounds like, yeah, that's fair, But the
Speaker 1: truth is the effect is that it serves as sort
Speaker 1: of a scapegoat or a lightning rod. The term black
Speaker 1: on black crime is a lightning rod. So that I
Speaker 1: hate to keep picking on conservatives, but really that's where
Speaker 1: it comes from. The conservative facet of this country doesn't
Speaker 1: need to really address the systemic issues created by a
Speaker 1: lot of their policies. And I'm not going to let
Speaker 1: the Democrats or the liberals off the hook. Here either
Speaker 1: a lot of times the liberals too, you know, and
Speaker 1: I'm not saying everyone was intentional. Some people just didn't
Speaker 1: know better, you know. But this is the this is
Speaker 1: the truth of the matter. It's cyclical, right, there's there's
Speaker 1: a there's moments in history where these things were flipped.
Speaker 1: The roles were reversed.
Speaker 3: Sure, you know, the Republican and Democratic Party and the
Speaker 3: way that they approached politics and government.
Speaker 1: The roles have reversed a bit.
Speaker 3: They have not always been, uh, in the positions that
Speaker 3: they're in now, but there have always been conservatives that
Speaker 3: they probably think not always existed. It's always been systemically
Speaker 3: oppressing very good.
Speaker 1: So really the the conversation, because you might be listening like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, here they go again.
Speaker 3: But yes, by the way, yes here they go again
Speaker 3: and again, like so next week we on that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: just a you if you just tooed it by me
Speaker 3: thaking you were flipping through, Yes, here they go again
Speaker 3: and next time, just so we're clear.
Speaker 1: Sake, So watch this rather than okay, here's another example
Speaker 1: of a black man killing a black man. They're they're
Speaker 1: eating each other, they're fighting each other, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: Rather than having that attitude, that approach, that ignorance, that
Speaker 1: that willful ignorance, that that deliberate blindness to the reality
Speaker 1: we choose and many educated people, many people who have
Speaker 1: a much more broad view of what's really happening, tend
Speaker 1: to look at society. Q made it an excellent point
Speaker 1: when we first started talking about this versus half nots.
Speaker 1: A lot of crime that you find in poor neighborhoods
Speaker 1: is the result of economic inequality. And if you address
Speaker 1: the economic inequality, the need for crime drops, and therefore
Speaker 1: crime drops.
Speaker 3: Now rams Is, being one of the most intelligent people
Speaker 3: that I know, won't say this because he feels it
Speaker 3: not necessary, but I will. That does not mean that
Speaker 3: some evil people won't exist, that some criminals won't exist,
Speaker 3: But there are crimes that happen as a result of circumstance,
Speaker 3: uncontrollable circumstance. I am starving, I have nothing and need
Speaker 3: to do my children, and those people over there have
Speaker 3: a lot I need to go get.
Speaker 1: Some of that.
Speaker 3: That does not make it right. Right, And we're talking
Speaker 3: about correlation and causality in the black on black thing
Speaker 3: and the things that we try to tie to the
Speaker 3: reasons why things happen. The real reasons why in a
Speaker 3: lot of cases are reasons that people don't want to
Speaker 3: admit because then they have to point the blame at
Speaker 3: themselves for not just creating, but continuing to perpetuate and
Speaker 3: benefit the same circumstances and benefit from. Right, So, for
Speaker 3: what we are.
Speaker 1: Trying to address, it's necessary to frame this the right way. Now.
Speaker 1: Q and I are members of the hip hop culture.
Speaker 1: We're both DJs, we both come from hip hop radio.
Speaker 1: This is the lifestyle we live, the way that we dress,
Speaker 1: the way that we talk, the way that we move,
Speaker 1: and so something like this is going to feel heavy
Speaker 1: in our world. Perhaps it feels heavy in your world
Speaker 1: as well. Nipsey Hustle in particular, because I'm from California
Speaker 1: and I know, I'm gonna just say it, man, I
Speaker 1: grew up. It was gang bangers everywhere. That's what it is.
Speaker 1: You know, their strength, there's protection, there's you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. And then an environment where there's not a
Speaker 1: lot and people are fighting over scraps, and you introduce
Speaker 1: use a way that people can make money and you know,
Speaker 1: provide for themselves. And this is the CIA that introduced
Speaker 1: a crack into the southern California in the black neighborhoods.
Speaker 3: Into black neighborhoods all over the country.
Speaker 1: By the way, well, ultimately, yes, but it started in
Speaker 1: that part of the country. And you know, now there's
Speaker 1: more to fight over, and the people that you're fighting
Speaker 1: to get stuff from they look like you, they move
Speaker 1: like you, they walk like you. And then so it's
Speaker 1: very easy to hate yourself because you're looking for yourself
Speaker 1: to find the people that are from And then you know,
Speaker 1: even when there's less money involved, now that you've been
Speaker 1: conditioned to hate these people because they've done something new.
Speaker 1: They've robbed you, they've hurt your friend, they've killed your friend,
Speaker 1: your family, your cousin died, this sort of thing. Now
Speaker 1: you're locked in perpetual warfare in an environment that there's
Speaker 1: not a lot to go around. There's not a lot
Speaker 1: of mobility, of course, and it's like a trap. It's
Speaker 1: so funny because that word trap has never been too
Speaker 1: far removed from hip hop. And excuse me. This is
Speaker 1: why when you look at someone when you when you're
Speaker 1: like me and you look at someone like Nipsey Hustle,
Speaker 1: where it's like I can see you, I can see
Speaker 1: myself very fortunate in that I was able to move
Speaker 1: out of there when I was young enough to not
Speaker 1: have to play that game. I had big brothers Raka
Speaker 1: Sean Buddy Raka from Dilated people, that's my brother, big
Speaker 1: brothers that you know, you know, made sure that I
Speaker 1: didn't have to, you know, swim in that stream. And
Speaker 1: then of course I moved to Arizona and was able
Speaker 1: to you know, you know, the story goes how it
Speaker 1: went here. I am talking to you now, but I
Speaker 1: know Nipsey. I know that person to see that he
Speaker 1: made it and he was giving back, and he knew
Speaker 1: what he was into. He knew what was happening. He
Speaker 1: could see it, and he was like, I'm gonna fix this.
Speaker 1: This is wrong. And if no one else is coming here,
Speaker 1: if this environment has been forgotten, there's people just down
Speaker 1: the street in Beverly Hills, there's people over there in
Speaker 1: Mulholland drive these mansion millionaires, people driving ferraris everywhere, and
Speaker 1: we're killing each other over pennies, over nothing. We're locked
Speaker 1: in perpetual warfare, you know. And this is why when
Speaker 1: people look at Chicago like it's just a black issue. No,
Speaker 1: there's there's social con and the reason why, oh god, sorry,
Speaker 1: my brain is all over the place. But the reason
Speaker 1: why so many people feel like blaming Chicago is a
Speaker 1: lightning rod too. You know, people like black people got
Speaker 1: problems in Chicago. Fix those problems before you start trying
Speaker 1: to come at the police. Well, listen, if it is
Speaker 1: easy to fix these sorts of problems, if it was
Speaker 1: something that you could do in a timely manner, then
Speaker 1: I don't think we would have as many issues, are
Speaker 1: as much in the way of pushback. But what we
Speaker 1: do need to do is change the framework of the
Speaker 1: society and then give it time to implement these These
Speaker 1: these conditions took a long time to come about, take
Speaker 1: a long time to dissipate.
Speaker 3: But ramsay is that's the problem.
Speaker 1: No one will give it time, nobody will give it
Speaker 1: a shot. Too many people benefit from the system the
Speaker 1: way that it's currently set up for there to be
Speaker 1: large scale reform and change. Right that those who are
Speaker 1: in power.
Speaker 3: Benefit the most, So they put things in place to
Speaker 3: keep themselves in power and keep those who have not
Speaker 3: under their thumbs. That system has been in place forever.
Speaker 3: They have no actual agenda or desire to change it.
Speaker 3: And what we've started to notice when it comes to
Speaker 3: our power politicians is it does not matter which side
Speaker 3: of the aisle they sit on. They benefit from it.
Speaker 3: That's the part that's so hurtful. And you know it
Speaker 3: is no actual push from anybody in that space to
Speaker 3: change it because they all benefit from it.
Speaker 1: I'm going to say this for those people that supported
Speaker 1: this show from the first episode. I know you still listen,
Speaker 1: and I know how you feel, and I'm thinking of
Speaker 1: you in this moment when I say this next thing. Okay,
Speaker 1: but I have to say it because it's true. The
Speaker 1: same way I'm looking at this instance with p and
Speaker 1: b Rock losing his life, and I have to look
Speaker 1: at that as a societal issue that manifests itself in
Speaker 1: that way. But also I will not divorce from it.
Speaker 1: The fact that there is an individual who lost the
Speaker 1: line by far and away across the line. He took
Speaker 1: a life or some stuff, right, that is a violation.
Speaker 1: I have to say it. I condemn it, of course,
Speaker 1: and I'm not just going to blame society. That person
Speaker 1: is very wrong, more wrong than anyone. That's the ultimate crime.
Speaker 1: He can't come back, can't raise his daughters, it's end
Speaker 1: of him, right. I also have to say that I
Speaker 1: recognize on this show that we deal with systems, and
Speaker 1: more often than not we have to talk about policing
Speaker 1: in this country. But police get to be individuals too
Speaker 1: who are also a part of a system. And so
Speaker 1: I'm going to say this because it is fair for
Speaker 1: me to be able to say this. And I'm so
Speaker 1: sorry if you are upset with me, because I know
Speaker 1: a lot of people are very upset with police, all
Speaker 1: of police, and they just want to you know, that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. But I'm going to say say this.
Speaker 1: Officer Kevin Gilliland, I thank you for being a kind man.
Speaker 1: He knows what I'm talking about. Officer Daniel, I thank
Speaker 1: you for being a kind man. Officer Suzanne, I thank
Speaker 1: you for being a kind woman. I thank you for
Speaker 1: talking to me knowing who I am and the positions
Speaker 1: that I hold. I thank you for growing me up.
Speaker 1: I thank you for allowing me to grow you up too,
Speaker 1: and for understanding and sharing my pain and the pain
Speaker 1: of my people with you. And just like I have
Speaker 1: these conversations, I hope that you have these conversations with
Speaker 1: your audience, with your fellow officers and so forth, in
Speaker 1: this moment, I will send you my love and hope
Speaker 1: that we will continue to build something profound and we
Speaker 1: all will be better for these conversations. And let the
Speaker 1: back last come and I had to say it, so
Speaker 1: moving on, It's time for the Way Black History Facts.
Speaker 1: The Way Black History Fact this week is I'm brought
Speaker 1: to you by Hip Hop Looking Magazine and we are
Speaker 1: going to read from indiawire dot com. Why has Hollywood
Speaker 1: still not given pioneering Black filmmaker Oscar Michelle is due?
Speaker 1: All right, let's read Michelle was one of the great
Speaker 1: trailblazers in film history, but the industry has yet to
Speaker 1: fully appreciate his legacy. Time to change that. Black filmmakers
Speaker 1: have struggled the representation as long as the movies have existed.
Speaker 1: As Hollywood took shape in the early half of the
Speaker 1: twentieth century, black directors were already looking for ways to
Speaker 1: push back on prevailing stereotypes. From the uplift films of
Speaker 1: the nineteen tens produced by initiatives at the Tuskegee and
Speaker 1: Hampton Institutes, to the naturalistic shorts made by William Hoster
Speaker 1: in Chicago and the work of the London Motion Picture Company,
Speaker 1: the first black owned film production enterprise in the United States.
Speaker 1: There was no shortage of examples. The most prolific and
Speaker 1: tireless voice during this period was Oscar Michelle, who blazed
Speaker 1: trails in Black American cinema, beginning with his nineteen nineteen
Speaker 1: feature debut The Homesteader, the first feature film written and
Speaker 1: directed by an African American. It's been ninety years since
Speaker 1: he became the first black filmmaker to produce a sound
Speaker 1: feature with The Exile. It's been seventy years since his death,
Speaker 1: and still Michelle's impact hasn't been fully measured and recognized
Speaker 1: by Hollywood, as the HFPA faces a major reckoning over
Speaker 1: its diversity issues and the award's infrastructure faces major questions
Speaker 1: about representation. Miss Show's underappreciated legacy is worth another visit.
Speaker 1: Michelle produced and directed films at a time when black
Speaker 1: people were still considered by a virtue by a racist
Speaker 1: white establishment, undeserving of their humanity, let alone their freedom
Speaker 1: to tell their own stories. His quote nothing impossible, unquote
Speaker 1: self sufficiency and the diy nature of his films paved
Speaker 1: the way for indies that would follow the child of
Speaker 1: a former slave and America's preeminent black filmmaker for almost
Speaker 1: three decades. Miss Shows started the Mishow Film Corporation and
Speaker 1: made about forty four films, often as a writer, director,
Speaker 1: and producer. Like Hitchcocky often cameoed in his own work.
Speaker 1: He financed those movies anyway he could, including incredibly selling
Speaker 1: stock in his company to white farmers in South Dakota.
Speaker 1: This was the early nineteen twenties. Considering the racial tenor
Speaker 1: of the times, it's certainly a propos to wonder how
Speaker 1: a black man a very humble roots, with limited education
Speaker 1: and virtually no technical or artistic training became a filmmaker
Speaker 1: of note and created a film production company with a
Speaker 1: reputation that has endured. Until it did, his legacy has
Speaker 1: not been entirely disregarded. Contemporary black filmmakers like Spike Lee,
Speaker 1: hath been vocal about Mishow's influence. Lee even once called
Speaker 1: Michew his idol who inspired him to do his first film.
Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty six, the Director's Guild of America honored
Speaker 1: Mi Show with a Lifetime Achievement ward. In twenty ten,
Speaker 1: the US Postal Service issued a Mishow commemorative stamp. In
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, Michew's masterpiece Body and Soul was selected by
Speaker 1: the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film
Speaker 1: Registry for being culturally, historically, or esthetically significant. The nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty five Race film featured Paul Robson, then twenty seven
Speaker 1: years old, in his motion picture debut. In twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: HBO announced it would develop a Mischhow biopic. Tyler Perry,
Speaker 1: whose assent mimics that of Michow's, was on board to star.
Speaker 1: Yet Michew has yet to be recognized in any way
Speaker 1: by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences AKA,
Speaker 1: the most famous and prestigious organization in the film world.
Speaker 1: That suggests either total ignorance or perhaps the lack of
Speaker 1: appreciation among the Academy's brass for what he was able
Speaker 1: to accomplish as a black man in Jim Crow America.
Speaker 1: What is time to do something about it? One idea,
Speaker 1: whether the Academy or another organization goes for it, would
Speaker 1: be an annual award named after Michell, designed to celebrate
Speaker 1: pioneering blacky pioneering work of other relatively unknown black artists
Speaker 1: of yesteryear. There's gold and then they are hills. After all,
Speaker 1: it's not just Michelle whose career has been rendered inconsequential.
Speaker 1: During the first half of the twentieth century, specifically nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty seven through forty, more than fifty black movies were produced.
Speaker 1: They diverged from the aesthetic of earlier black films, like
Speaker 1: the inexpensive melodramas made by Michelle and depictions of black
Speaker 1: people in Hollywood fair. The intent was to appeal to
Speaker 1: appeal to the mainstream on their own terms. Many of
Speaker 1: these these films are presumed loss. The average movie buff
Speaker 1: will likely know about films of black performers and filmmakers
Speaker 1: who thrived to an extent prior to the signing of
Speaker 1: the Civil Rights Act nineteen sixty four, Sidney Portier, Harry Bellafonte,
Speaker 1: Dorothy Dandridge, and the first black Oscar winner, Pattie McDaniel,
Speaker 1: But the enterprising work of black actors, producers, and directors
Speaker 1: like Ral Cooper, who wore all three hats also known
Speaker 1: as the Bronze Bogart and Dark Gable are largely ignored
Speaker 1: along with white producers. Harry and Leo co founded Million
Speaker 1: Dollar Pictures, which produced around a dozen films during that
Speaker 1: four year stretch, many of them starring the actor, many
Speaker 1: of them starring the actor. He launched his career with
Speaker 1: Dark Manhattan, a nineteen thirty seven crime drama that adapted
Speaker 1: the Hollywood gangster formula with an all black cast. Prior
Speaker 1: to the film's opening credits, the title reads, we dedicate
Speaker 1: this pictures to the memories of RB. Harrison, Bert Williams,
Speaker 1: Florence Mills, and all the pioneer Negro actors who, by
Speaker 1: their many sacrifices, made this presentation if possible. In twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: Martin Scorsese launched an initiative to locate and restore classic
Speaker 1: African American films via his Film Foundation in partnership with
Speaker 1: the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers and UNESCO, dubbed the
Speaker 1: African Film Heritage Project, fifty films distinguished for their historic,
Speaker 1: artistic and cultural value where to be identified and preserved. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: the goal is to protect essential titles to ensure that
Speaker 1: new generations of African moviegoers can actually see, appreciate, and
Speaker 1: maybe even be influenced by them, rather than the deluge
Speaker 1: of titles from the West that have flooded African markets
Speaker 1: for decades, race films like those by Michell have been neglected,
Speaker 1: in part due to their perceived lack of value in
Speaker 1: limited reach. It parallels the mud muzzling of marginalized voices
Speaker 1: of the period. Note that the nineteen twenties through the
Speaker 1: forties had some of the highest concentration of work by
Speaker 1: black filmmakers, the likes of which the industry wouldn't see
Speaker 1: again until decades later. And finally, black film history is
Speaker 1: American history, and the seeds planted by black pioneers like
Speaker 1: Michelle a century ago continue to probably yield returns. They
Speaker 1: deserve to be celebrated and their trailblazing work held in
Speaker 1: the same high regard as their white contemporaries. Hollywood is
Speaker 1: making progress on celebrating current black talent. Now it's time
Speaker 1: to take the long view. So that's a name I
Speaker 1: didn't know. Shout out to our producer ms Maggie Akba.
Speaker 1: Maggie be known for to give one up for us
Speaker 1: so that we could all be a little bit more
Speaker 1: educated about stuff that we don't know. You know, this
Speaker 1: is I mean, we were talking earlier about representation and
Speaker 1: seeing ourselves in fantasies. It's also important to see ourselves
Speaker 1: in history. You know, yes, this is certainly a wonderful
Speaker 1: example of that. A lot of these way black history
Speaker 1: facts I know all about them, but every so often
Speaker 1: one that I'm like, oh there's a new one. And
Speaker 1: today was one such day. So once again shout out
Speaker 1: to Maggie be known, she do, because she do. But
Speaker 1: that is going to be that that's going to do
Speaker 1: it for us here on Civicipher Once again, I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Rams this job I am q Ward is indeed and
Speaker 1: show produced by Maggie Boan. Do us a favor at
Speaker 1: the website civiccipher dot com. Download this in any previous episodes.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot us an idea for some topics
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