'We Are The Dream' Reminds Us That Kids Have A Voice Too

Each year in Oakland, California, children from over 120 schools, ages ranging from preschool level through 12th grade are given the opportunity to compete in the Martin Luther King Oratorical Festival. More than a competition, the MLK Oratorical Festival becomes a learning moment for the youth and an opportunity for them to speak confidently in front of large crowds, sharing both the words of Dr. King and their own original content, while also mastering their posture and cadence in a way that may have never been available to them before.

Now, the history behind the competition, the organizers and the children who participate are being highlighted in the new HBO documentary We Are The Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest. Directed and produced by Amy Schatz and executive produced by Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali and Amatus Karim-Ali, the documentary is a warm reminder that if we continue to pour into our children, not all hope is lost. 

A moving, feel-good documentary, We Are The Dream chronicles the 2019 competition, which also aligns with the 40th anniversary of the MLK Fest. While presenting the Oakland community as a backdrop, Schatz makes it clear that the MLK Oratorical Fest is a tradition that is deeply embedded into the hearts of the city's long-term residents. Still, what stands out in the doc are the educators who have remained committed to the children, despite dwindling resources and an increasingly fast-paced digital world. These teachers and mentors take the time to foster relationships with young people so they can feel encouraged and supported, allowing the audience to learn from these fresh and unjaded minds

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

‘Green Book’ Pushes Past Generic Storytelling To Present A Stunning Tale Of Race Relations In The '60s

From Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? to The Help, many films have examined race relations in the 1960's. Some like Malcolm X have considered a specific character or moment in history. Others like To Sir, With Love, allowed the tumultuous times to exist in the backdrop of their stories, becoming a time capsule of America’s shameful past and wicked present. Despite the plethora of work on the subject, there has never been a film quite like Green Book. Based on the real-life friendship of an acclaimed Black classical pianist, Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and an Italian-American club bouncer, Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), Green Book chronicles the eight weeks Tony was employed as Dr. Shirley's driver and bodyguard as he embarked on a dangerous concert tour that led the men into the Deep South in the winter of 1962.

Green Book could have easily been yet another generic Civil Rights film or a poor reincarnation of 1989’s Driving Miss Daisy. Luckily, it was much more than that. With stellar performances from Ali -- who carried both an air of class along with the burdens of being an eccentric Black man in the ‘60s in his portrayal -- and Mortensen who put on the weight of Tony (a man who adored food), a New York accent and often crass attitude of Bronx natives are what makes Green Book a top-tier film.

Continue Reading at Shadow and Act.

Interview|| Mahershala Ali Talks 'Hunger Games,' 'House of Cards,' Dream Role, Race in the Industry

In "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1," Mahershala Ali plays Boggs. He is introduced to us as President Coin’s (Julianne Moore) right hand man. After Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) assumes the role of the Mockingjay, Boggs becomes her personal bodyguard.
At a recent junket for the film, we spoke with Ali about working on the project, "House of Cards," his dream role, and race in the film and television industry.

Aramide Tinubu: First, I’d like to say congratulations on all of your success.  I’ve been watching "House of Cards" and I’m obsessed with "The Hunger Games," like the majority of America.  I’d like to start off by asking how you prepared to become Boggs. At the 2013 Emmy’s, you spoke about working to truly understand the characters that you portray. Boggs has always lived underground. How did you prepare to become him?

Mahershala Ali: One of the first things I wanted to do was change how I felt in my body. I couldn’t change my look because I was finishing up "House of Cards," so I couldn’t grow out a beard, or grow hair or anything like that; which I would have ideally loved to do. It felt appropriate for the character at the time. So, the best thing I could do was begin to lift weights a little. I had worked on slimming down in the last couple of years just to be able to look like a businessman in a suit for "House of Cards." So now, I wanted to feel a little bit more present and just different in my body, so I picked up like five to seven pounds, so I was working out quite a bit. And then, going to work, I kind of just changed the environment for myself, sonically. There were a couple of albums I would listen to in my trailer to put me in the headspace of District 13.  So I was listening to this Method Man album "Tical," which came out in like ’94 or ’95.  It just sounded appropriate for the piece it sounded like "District 13" to me; in that time, and in this building rebellion.  So then I just build. The work that I do with all of my characters is have some sense of where they come from.  I kind of create my own story for myself. What’s going on with my parents, are they alive?  Or family, do I have children?  Do you see those things or not? All the mental work that I have to do to be present and give off a sense of truth that can connect with the audience.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act 

xoxoxo Chocolate Girl in the City xoxoxox