May 7, 2016 - May 13, 2016, The Afro-American
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ARTS & CULTURE
Documentary Uncovers Students Challenges During D.C.’s Crack Epidemic A few of the Southeast 67 students returned for the screening, not having been back to the school or seen each other in years. It proved an emotional experience for them, as well as two of Washington, D.C. has been known their instructors, Phyllis Rumbarger and Steve over the years by several monikers, “Our Bumbaugh, who also attended the screening. Nation’s Capital,” “Chocolate City,” and for Bumbaugh, a Black man, who entered an unfortunate period of time, America’s Kramer bright-eyed and unknowing as the “Murder Capital.” It was during the latter, Dreamer’s project coordinator, understood the at the height of a seemingly unending crack textbook methodology of dealing with at-risk epidemic that an entire generation of children youth; he was covered in blood his first day of – primarily in the city’s Southeast quadrant – school, before the first-bell rang. faced the debilitating effects of the epidemic’s “A typical I Have a Dream program would addiction and violence. Kramer Middle hire one project coordinator, whose job was to School, sadly, sat in its center. inspire 70 kids growing up in the middle of the Among Kramer’s students, 67 seventh drug wars in the toughest neighborhoods in the graders were promised college scholarships United States,” Bumbaugh, who was only 23 by area businessman Stewart Bainum through at the time, told the audience. “That was wellthe I Have a Dream program, a national intentioned at the time, but it doesn’t work. My movement to provide kids in underserved first day of school, my pressed white shirt was communities the opportunity to attend covered in some kid’s blood from breaking up a (Courtesy photo) fight. The kids were looking at me like my first college. The documentary, “Southeast 67,” examines twelve of those students’ struggles A scene from the documentary showing two of the 67 seventh graders in the “I Have a day would definitely be my last.” Dream” program at Kramer Middle School. to balance the dream of college with daily Bumbaugh stayed. And alongside survival in a community that often mirrored Rumbarger, an unassuming White woman, the people coming of age between 1988 and 1994 in D.C. And a war zone. Now 20 years later, some members of the 67 Southeast 67 began to experience life along the parameters of while countless stories have recounted the destruction of attended a documentary screening about their struggles on the all-American lifestyle and utter chaos. the crack epidemic, none have analyzed the impact it had April 29 held at Kramer Middle School. “Part of the issue, which was really a shock to me, because on its youngest, most vulnerable survivors. For Dominick Martece (Gooden) Yates came from a professional home I had never worked in that kind of a neighborhood before, was, Washington, who attended the Kramer screening, the beauty with middle-class standards. But between her seventh and why, at the age of 12 or 13, should you have a dream that you of “Southeast 67” was witnessing the resilience of the young ninth grade years, Yates’ mother became a casual user of can go to college, when, in another half of your brain, you people. cocaine, and eventually an addict to crack. don’t really expect to live past 16? And that’s real,” Rumbarger “In the middle of scenes with police breaking down doors, “I didn’t want people to know that my mother was a said. “That’s because their cousin has died. Their sister has parents unable to kick addictions, and their friends being killed crackhead,” Yates told the AFRO. “My world just fell apart. I died. And some schools were violent. And so, you’re not safe. in the streets, these 12 and 13-year-olds were expected to go to went from being this kid who had this huge support group and And it’s not the culture to stay in school. So, that was one of school, perform well academically, and somehow ignore all of everything, to, ‘Oh, my gosh, what is going on here? I mean, the hardest things. And almost everything ties to that.” the trauma going on around them,” Washington told the AFRO. I would come home and the phone would be cut off. Or to just “Southeast 67” has garnered several honors including The “The documentary is mind-boggling… it brings tears to your wonder, you know, ‘Where’s the car?’” Rosebud Film & Video Festival 2016, and the San Diego eyes, because so many of us had no compassion for them and Yates’ story was an all-too familiar lament among young Black Film Festival awards. we could not have survived it.” By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO ssherman@afro.com
Book Review
‘Provenance’ Explores Consequences of Racial ‘Passing’ By Brandi Randolph Special to the AFRO In 2015, Baltimore had 344 homicides. Given that, sometimes it can be hard to find the time to sit down and think about the privilege that some Whites have in today’s society. Donna Drew Sawyer’s debut novel “Provenance: A Novel” is historical fiction set in Richmond, VA, New York and parts of Europe in the years following the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The novel is about a Black man named Henry Whitaker who flees his hometown after being accused of a crime and sets up business in Richmond as a White man. In the aftermath of his decision, his family is left to fend for themselves. His son Lance is forced to make a decision on whether or not he will follow in his father’s footsteps in pretending to be a White man. While I’m not generally a fan of historical fiction, this book made me want to find out more about Lance and his family. Historical books, at times, can overwhelm readers with detail. This book is different. Sawyer weaves historical artists, jazz musicians and other notable figures of the time into the novel. For example, Lance meets Belle da Costa Greene, the librarian to famed financier J.P.
Morgan, and begins a relationship with her. The book deals with themes of acceptance and equality. Henry and his son, Lance, struggle with notions of race and class during a period when segregation was prevalent and lynchings were a common occurrence. The moral conflicts the family experiences due to one person’s decision echo throughout the book. The sequel to ‘Provenance’ is already set to come out in 2017. Sawyer, who was born and raised in New York, now lives near Washington D.C. with her husband and two grown daughters and will be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in Maryland on May 21.
Hip Hop Goes Vegan at Baltimore Dinner predominately Black community meets the predominately Jewish community sits the Northwestern high school which held its 2nd Annual ‘10th Element Of Hip Hop: Baltimore Hip Hop Green Dinner,’ on May 2. Students at the Baltimore city public high school were given a presentation on eating green during the school day, followed by the Green Dinner the following evening. The event was open to the public and featured musical performances by local artist such as Poet Deep and Watoto from the Nile and lectures from the likes of Dr. T.L. Osbourne. The cuisine was provided by Baltimore based The Land of Kush, which is owned by the husband and wife duo Gregory Brown and Naijha Wright-Brown. The principal of Northwestern, Saeed Hill, said, “I wasn’t exposed to this [type of] food until I was 42, so I wanted my students to get ‘it’ early.” The menu included BBQ ribs, macaroni and cheese, corn bread, and kale salad which were all vegan. Even the ribs, which are made from a secret recipe. The mission of the evening, and of Land of Kush, is to give people a chance to indulge in food that not only elevates their body but also their minds. The thinking, said WrightBrown, is that “when you eat living foods (plant-based) you live and you feel alive all over; and when you eat things that (Courtesy photo) are not living(animal-based) you feel like those things that Former NFL defensive lineman David Carter, far left, members of Vegan Outreach, center, and Naijha Wright- Brown, far right, one of the owners of Land of Kush restaurant. you eat, not alive”. Other attendees included the ‘300 hundred pound vegan,’ better known as former NFL defensive lineman David Carter, By Dameon Byrd Jr. a long-time advocate of the vegan lifestyle. The event was organized by The Black Vegetarian Special to the AFRO Society of Maryland, Ingrid Antonio, and the BeMore Group and presented by Vegan Outreach. Much of the food served will be available at the Baltimore Vegan Soul Fest this August. In the North West district of Baltimore at the top of Park Heights avenue, where the