Black August Media Forum / Hip Hop Films

The indie filmmaking crew that is organizing the ongoing Hip Hop Film Fest tour, are throwing a festive and educational event Saturday Aug 17th & Sunday Aug 18th at SomARTS Center in San Francisco. Folks of all ages and races are invited to see screenings of the most popular films in the festival as well as participate in a Black August Media Forums with some of the Bay Area's leading alternative media writers and visual artists. The event is a fundraiser for the severely strapped SF Bay View newspaper, one of the only voices for progressive politics directed to the Afro American comunities in the area.

The panelists scheduled to appear during the media forum over the course of the two day event include: Willie Ratcliff (Publisher of SF Bay View/KPFA boardmember) , Stephen Marshall ( Guerilla News Network), Kevin Weston ( Editor of YO!-Youth Outlook/Pacific News Service), Eric K. Arnold (The Source/SFBG), Wanda Sabir ( Oakland Tribune/SF Bay View), Kiilu Nyasha (SF Bay View/KPOO) Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai (SF Bay View), Andrew Sullivan ( GreenCine), Tomas Palermo (editor of XLR8R), Clark "Mr. Cee" Parker (Profyle Mag/KPOO) plus representatives from KPFA, Hip-Hop Network, Poor Magazine, Mother Jones, Street Sheet, The Alarm and other guests TBA.

One of the concepts they'll be exploring is the concept of Black August. Black August is a time of remembrance for those lost and a chance to embrace the principles of unity, self-sacrifice, resistance, spiritual renewal for all of those working in the ongoing struggle to free ourselves from political oppression and break the chains that bind us.

Black August grew out of the California Prison
system by the men and women of the Black/Afrikan Liberation Movement as a means of acknowledging and studying the legacy of resistance in the Americas. They had a need to expose the heroic deeds of Afrikan women and men who have recognized and struggled against the injustices heaped upon people of color on a daily basis in America. These include fallen soldiers such as Soledad Brother, George L. Jackson who was killed in prison August 21, 1971 and his younger brother, Jonathan Jackson who was killed in the parking lot of a Marin County courtroom after liberating Ruchell Magee among other brothers on August 7, 1970. The arrival of the first Africans here for the purpose of enslavement was in August (1619). The first and only armed revolution whereby Africans freed themselves from chattel slavery commenced on August 21, 1791 in Haiti. Nat Turner's slave rebellion began on August 21, 1831, and Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad started in August. Philadelphia Police began raiding and murdering MOVE members in their homes beginning in August 8, 1978 .

As Mumia Abu Jamal, whose own execution was stayed in August 1995, has written "Their sacrifice, their despair, their determination and their blood has painted the month Black for all time."

We invite you to come on down to experience this unique gathering and important cultural event. The forum will occur between hip hop film fest screenings and allows this burgeoning cultural movement to be placed within the historical and political context that can inform, inspire and guide new generations as we confront the issues facing our communities, our society and our world.

For a history of Black August related information and timeline visit
http://www.prisonactivist.org/blackaugust/index.shtml

For a complete schedule of events visist http://www.hiphopfilmfest.com