An Evening of Entertainment

Nine time Grammy-Award winner Eddie Palmieri and Bryan Lynch Latin Jazz Quartet.

RACEFLIX Film Festival

The following films are the official 2008 RaceFlix Film Festival selections.

Racing California - Produced by Backstory Narratives and Applied Research Center
Examines how the change in the state's population to a majority people of color has triggered a conservative backlash of policies and electoral propositions targeting residents of color. The film briefly explores policy changes that would better serve the state's new majority.

The Sixth Section – by Alex Rivera – Immigrants Organizing Across Borders

Vincent Who? – Producer and co-director Curtis Chin and Tony Lam.  Presented by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress in association with Tony Lam Films and Q & A Pictures.

In 1982, Vincent Chin was murdered in Detroit by two white autoworkers at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments. For the first time, Asian Americans around the country galvanized to form a real community and movement.  This documentary, inspired by a series of town halls organized by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress on the 25th anniversary of the case, features interviews with the key players at the time, as well as a whole new generation of activists. "Vincent Who?" asks how far Asian Americans have come since then and how far we have yet to go.  Featured interviews include: Helen Zia (lead activist during the Chin trial), Renee Tajima Pena (director, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"), Stewart Kwoh (Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Lisa Ling (journalist), Dale Minami (civic rights attorney), Sumi Pendakur (Univ. of Southern California), Doua Thor (Executive Director, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center) and a group of five diverse young APA activists whose lives were impacted by Vincent Chin.

Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? -- by California Newsreel -- "When the Bough Breaks," (Episode 2)

Why do infant mortality rates among African Americans remain more than twice that of white Americans? Although birth outcomes are generally better for those with higher education and income, African American women with college degrees are still more likely to give birth prematurely than white women who drop out of high school. Researchers are circling in on a provocative explanation: the chronic stress of racism throughout the life course can become embedded in the body, taking a heavy toll on African American families and their children even before they leave the womb.

The following films will be shown during the Media That Matters film hour – hosted by ArtsEngine. They are all Official Selections of the Media  That Matters Film Fesitval

Perversion of Justice  - Directed & Produced by Melissa Mummert
What can be said of a justice system that sentences a young mother of three to life in prison for a first-time and non-violent drug-related offense? 

Something's Moving  - Directed by Randy Vasquez, Produced by Jonathan Skurnik
Survivors of a U.S. boarding school for the Lakota are breaking the chain of trauma in order to heal their spirits, their community and the country.

A Loud Color - Directed & Produced by Brent Joseph
Louis Harding takes a tour of his neighborhood in post-Katrina New Orleans, recounting the contributions of notable African Americans to New Orleans' culture and the long road ahead.

African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal - Directed by Magee McIlvaine, Ben Herson, Chris Moore, Produced by Nomadic Wax and Sol Productions
Step into the African Underground and listen to a new voice inspired by religions, politics, old school Hip Hop and Senegalese culture.

America For Dummies – Directed by Niaz Mosharraf, Produced by Reel Works Teen Filmmaking
Niaz Mosharraf challenges his peers on their knowledge of current-affairs and asks questions like: "Why do we know more about K-Fed than Kofi Annan?"

Sovereign Nation - Directed & Produced by Kendall Moore
The Narragansett tribe defends its sovereignty only to encounter violent resistance and entrenched misunderstanding from their home state of Rhode Island.

Rights on the Line  - Produced by American Friends Service Committee, American Civil Liberties Union and WITNESS
What happens when people cross the line? Vigilantes take the law into their own hands on the U.S.-Mexican border.

Still Standing – Directed & Produced by Educational Video Center yo-TV & Youth
Ms. Gertruded returns to what remains of her New Orleans home and fights to rebuild what she can in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Food Justice, A Growing Movement – Directed & Produced by Martina Brimmer and Zora Tucker
Farmers become activists in the fight for food justice in West Oakland, California.

Slip of the Tongue  – Directed by Karen Lum, Produced by Youth Sounds Factory
"What's your ethnic make up?" A young man makes a pass at a beautiful stranger and gets an eye-opening schooling on race and gender.

Book 'Em: Undereducated, Overincarcerated – Produced by Youth Rights Media
In New Haven, Connecticut the pipeline from school to prison is shorter than you might think.