Black Panthers

Two New Films, One Fiction, The Other Non, Examine The Darker Side Of Law And Order

-by Denise SullivanThe Other Barrio and Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution are two very different films yet both depict crimes against communities of color in the Bay Area and beyond. I recently spoke to producer Lou Dematteis and director Stanley Nelson, about their respective films.Since its inception, film noir has found its ideal nighttime location in San Francisco, its fog-laced alleys and neon-lit beauty the perfect backdrop for booze-swilling anti-heroes and the ladies who love them, while in the real world, corruption and evil also coexist with the search for truth.

To the Memory of Malcolm X

I believe that there will be ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those who do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don’t think it will be based on the color of the skin…
— Malcolm X, One Month Before His Murder

Panthers in the Hole: French Angola 3 Book Illustrates US Prison Crisis

Amnesty International France and La Boîte à Bulles have published a 128-page French language graphic novel entitled Panthers in the Hole. The book’s co-authors David Cénou and Bruno Cénou present with visual art what Amnesty France describes as “la tragique histoire des Trois d’Angola” (the tragic story of the Angola 3).

Through the Looking Glass Darkly

One day while Alice is winding up a ball of wool that Kitty persists in undoing, she gets it into her head that there must be a world behind the looking glass (mirror) where everything is backward. Suddenly, she finds herself up on the mantelpiece staring into the looking glass. Then she walks through to the reality on the other side to find a world that is set up like a chessboard and chess pieces are animated human-like creatures. The reflected reality is the opposite of real reality. Time goes backwards.