Wanda's Picks Special June 19, 2012 10:30 AM

James Baldwin is one of my heroes. The man was brillant. Not every child can say that he wrote the anthem for the City of New York, but Baldwin can (Notes of a Native Son). His book length essay, The Fire Next Time is brilliant and needs to be read by every black boy beginning at the age of 8 or 9 and then again at 13. It should be on the book shelves of every halfway house, juvenile prison and in the library of everyone who says they care about black youth. That Baldwin, one of the architects of the Civil Rights Movement, visited San Francisco at a time when Birmingham was burning and blood running through the streets, the same red blood from black veins running through the streets of San Francisco in its black communities like Bayview Hunter's Point is significant on this day, Juneteenth 2012. Director, Caroline Bins has revisited that historic and great day in San Francisco with men who were there like Mr. Oscar James, Mr. Famious "Jackie" Bell, Mr. James Lockett, Mr. Tyrone Primus. In 50 years what has changed? The black president James Baldwin told the youth they could expect, has happened. However, with President Obama, his reelection to a second term this year, is there a significant difference between then and now? Bins's film: James Baldwin in San Francisco: Hunter’s Point Then and Now based on the rarely seen, 1964 film, Take This Hammer, KQED’s mobile film unit follows author and activist James Baldwin in the spring of 1963, as he’s driven around San Francisco to meet with members of the local African-American community and uncover what he calls, “The real situation of Negroes in the city, as opposed to the image San Francisco would like to present,” is having a very special free screening with residents of Hunter's Point at 7:30 PM @ Luggage Store Gallery http://streetopiasf.com/

We are joined by KATHERINE FAIRFAX WRIGHT - filmmaker; MALIKA ZOUHALI-WORRALL - filmmaker and LONGJONES - subject from the film, Call Me Kuchu, screening at Frameline this evening, June 19, 2012 at the Castro Theatre.

Call Me Kuchu depicts the last year in the life of a courageous, quick-witted and steadfast man whose wisdom and achievements were not fully recognized until after his death. While heartbreaking, the documentary traces a narrative that takes the viewer beyond the chronicle of victimization depicted in international news media: it tells the nuanced story of David and Kampala’s kuchus as they work to change their fate, and that of other kuchus across Africa.depicts the last year in the life of a courageous, quick-witted and steadfast man whose wisdom and achievements were not fully recognized until after his death.

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