THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO 1/25/20

I just saw a strange, beautiful, surreal film on Amazon Prime titled THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO. I am still reeling from the originality of language, and photography - images shot in fits and starts akin to the way we breathe. The depth of respect that a young man has for his lineage is conveyed through the particulars of architectural detail to the house he believes his grandfather built by hand- a gorgeous building on a hill - emblematic of a San Francisco home that once was more accessible than it is today. There are classic views of the city with its steep high-reaching hills reminding me of the artists Diebenkorn and Thiebaud - who have made the city their own through painting.

The movie stars Jimmie Fails (who wrote the screenplay) and plays a character of the same name - Jimmie Fails in the film -and his best friend Monty (Jonathan Majors) both having distinctive dreams, taking separate paths but walking together. One is a poet/artist/playwright and the other an admirer of the delicate beauty of reconditioning - working with his hands as a builder and restorer of what is now discarded and forgotten. Yes, there are psychological links to Jimmy Fails' own childhood, living in group homes, broken both mentally and physically, a key to his obsessive need to reconstruct as a form of regeneration.

A profound sadness permeates the film mixed with illuminating goodness. The tone and rhythm of THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO will not be easily forgotten. The lives of homeless people who live in cars, on the street, and in SRO's are also not buried from our sight but are seen in this film, as is gentrification and the neglect of our environment - issues conveyed with screams into the winds of change.

JUST MERCY 1/13/20

Finally saw a film that moved me emotionally.

I recommend JUST MERCY - based on the true story of idealistic Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) who opts to move to Alabama rather than work as a corporate lawyer, choosing to become an advocate for prisoners on death row. The movie begins with the founding of the Equal Justice Initiative with the support of local activist Eva Ansley (Brie Larson:) 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Justice_Initiative.

The film concentrates on a few of Stevenson's earliest cases focusing on Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx) and the heinous journey he undergoes - comprising false accusations, witness tampering, and manipulated evidence landing him on death row waiting to be executed.

1 out of 9 prisoners scheduled to be executed are innocent - and black inmates are the most vulnerable. In this film we see how a good lawyer can change the course of an investigation; we see how money factors in; we see how we are all a hair's breadth away from injustice particularly if you are poor and black; we see police corruption; we see blatant institutional racism and we see generosity and hope.

Stevenson's faith in the power of Congress to rectify unjust laws and the belief that our Judicial System can right "wrongs" brought me to tears in the age of Trump where deceit and cowardice prevail. This is a portrait of a decent, dedicated, brilliant lawyer giving me the confidence to know that there are many more attorneys fighting for those who are helplessly ignored. On a personal note, I have two in my own family and this film showed me again how critical the fight against injustice is. I am so proud of their work.

DELUGE 1/1/20

Deluge, oil/alkyd/canvas, 60"x84", 2018

2020 will be a year of reckoning. Will separation of powers be subsumed into ONE power - that of the Executive? Will Congress and the Courts allow a Demagogue to overturn our democracy?  Most importantly will the American people re-elect a man and a Senate Majority Leader who are crushing the very institutions that they were elected to uphold? We are living at a critical moment in history. 

When President Obama came to power, the searing wound of racism tore open our society to blatantly undermine Presidential authority. Congress attempted to become all-powerful with myriad Hearings on issues that were resolved many times over and became vehicles of pure propaganda. We were subject to Senator McConnell successfully overturning the nomination of a Supreme Court nominee. Rules were flouted and flipped - a pinhole of injustice leaked out and under Donald J. Trump has become a deluge of venality - facts are now deemed “fake”; scientific data is ignored; the free press has been under constant vilification so that many Americans no longer believe the writings of dedicated journalists; women, people of color, immigrants, Muslims and Jews are denigrated and disparaged as divisiveness and hate have thrown a shadow over the country.