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Ernest H. Piii Puhii>hct Co-founder
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Slyvia Sprinke Hamlin talks about the 2009 ,\BTF.
Black
Theater is
for Everyone
We are excited about this year's National Black Theatre
Festival. This year. marks the 3Qth anniversary of the North
Carolina Black Repertorv Company, which stages the festi
val. and the 20th anniversary of the festiv al itself.
As we all know, the festival and the Black Rep are the
visions of the late Larrv Leon Hamlin - a man that all of us
miss very much. When he died two years ago. there were
doubts about whether the festival, and even the Black Rep.
could surv ive without his larger-than-life presence. We know
now that those doubts were unfounded.
Like any smart leader-. Hamlin planted seeds decaides ago
and sprouted a group of talented young men and women.
Over the years. Hamlin watered these seeds and this group
sprouted into a driving force in both the NBTF and the Black
"Rep. Now that he's gone, this group ? w hich includes folks
like Lawrence Evafis. Patrice Toriey. Brian. McLaughlin.
Cleo Solomon, l.ucllcn Curry'. Roz Foxx. Elwanda Ingram
and LaSHonda Hairston have worked overt imtf to make
sure that his v ision continues
The leadership of both the festival and the theater compa
ny are also in great hands Gerry Pay ton. the executive direc
tor, and Mabel Robinson, the creative director, have shown
why Hamlin kept them so close to his side for so many years.
And Hamlin's widow. Sylvia Sprinkle Hamlin, one of the
city's most capable businesswomen, has provided a solid
direction, while Annie Hamlin Johnson. Larry Leon
Hamlin's colorful mother, has stepped up to provide some of
the pizazz that her son was known for..
The NBTF. like many businesses, and ventures, is in a bit
of a financial pinch this year: For those reasons and many
more, we encourage every living and breathing soul to try to
see some of the many performances that w ill come this year.
This event has given this city and its people so much that the
least we can do is buy a ticket or two or three to say thank-,
you.
Payton put it so eloquently this week at a local fund-rais
ing event when she said the festival is fair everyone. We
understood that to mean that she expects some white folks to
come out and enjoy some of the plays. The festival is "Black
Theatre Holy Ground," but black theater is for everyone. It
is about black culture, which is about everyone. It is about
relationships that exist between blacks and whites. It is about
life itself, told through and acted by black Americans for
everyone. It is not a time for people to leave the city. It is a
time for all people of the city to enjoy a unique cultural
experience.
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Another unjustified slaying
A1
Sharpton
Guest
C olumnist
On May 28. Omar
Edwards began his day like
any other: kissing his 18
month-old and 7-month old
children, hugging his wife
and going out for another
hard day's work.
But later that evening.
25-year-old Edwards' life
was tragically and violently
cut short when his body was
riddled with bullets. This
wasn't the work of a thug, a
mentally challenged person
nor a would-be thief.
Instead. Edwards was shot
several times by a fellow
police officer - yes police
officer - while in pursuit of
an actual criminal. Another
young Black man unjustifi
ably slain.
In cities and towns all
across this country we hear
the stories of young men and
women of color being 'mis
takenly shot at' or 'wrong
fully killed". There are con
tinuous investigations of
police department protocol
and police conduct, and a
plethora of excuses and justi
fications that slowly emerge.
But what is the unfath
omable excuse of police offi
cers killing a fellow com
rade? How can so-called
'friendly fire' take place?
And more importantly, how
can we not hold the shooter,
in this case 30-year-old
Andrew Dunton. account
able'
Now people will attempt
to argue that this isn't a
Black/White issue, but how
is it not when the only thing
Dunton had to go on was
Edwards' Blackness?
Authorities will quickly
safeguard Dunton and say
Edwards was in plain
clothes, but so was officer
Dunton.
Once again , the presumed
guilt and criminalization of
young Black men was
enough to warrant a shoot
first, ask questions later
mentality. Instead of
attempting to tarnish
Edwards, those leading an
investigation should look in
to Dunton, his record and the
chain of events that lead to
Edwards' untimely death.
Too often we focus on the
victim and not the perpetra
tor; it's time to demand
more.
The Edwardses, his
young widow Danielle and
their two babies buried offi
cer Edwards last week. It
Omar Edwards
a moving procession
with his family, friends and
colleagues who literally
lined the streets in uniform.
They recounted Edwards"
lifelong dreams and pursuits
of becoming an NYPD offi
cer. Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and Police
Commissioner Ray Kelly
both attended the somber
event and pledged to raise
Edwards" status to that of a
first-grade detective in order
for his family to obtain
increased benefits. In other
words, his salary was raised
by about $60,000: a mere
$60,000 while two children
will forever be fatherless,
Danielle a widow and his
parents having to cope with
the realization that they
buried their own son.
This is not justice. We
demand an outside federal
investigation into what took
place that tragic night. We
demand answers to this inex
plicable incident. We cannot
tacitly accept that this was
'an unfortunate accident' or
sit back without calling in to
question officer Dunton and
others present at the scene.
This, after all, wouldn't
be the first time the NYPD
has killed one of its own. In
2008. a Black off-dut>
Mount Vernon police officer
was gunned down by a
Westchester County police
man. and in 2006, officer
Eric Hernandez was shot and
killed by an on-duty patrol
man.
If race is irrelevant to
these cases, I ask, why are all
of the countless victims peo
ple of color? If all rules and
regulations were properly
followed in Edwards' case,
then let a federal investiga
tion prove it. We owe it to a
man who sacrificed his own
life to truly serve and protect
others.
It's time to demand
answers because any justice
delayed is undoubtedly jus
tice denied.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is a
well-known community
activist and founder of the
National Action Network .
Another Obama propagandists slam dunk
Peter
Bailey
Guest
Columnist
In a January 2009 col
umn. I wrote that "the bi-par
tisan powers-that-are in this
country, the ones who paved
the way for the historic elec
tion of Barack Hussein
Obama as president of the
United States, must be elated
at the thus far tremendous
success of their venture "
I was referring to the bril
liant way the inauguration
celebration was handled from
a public relations perspec
tive, calling it a propagandis
lic slam dunk. President
Obama's recent trip to the
Middle East during which he
met with King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia and delivered a
speech directed toward the
Islamic world was equally
well planned and executed.
It is my belief that the
only country in the Middle
East that the United States
powers-that-are really care
about is Saudi Arabia,
despite the fact that 15 of the
17 Arabs involved in the 9/1 1
attacks were Saudis.
They had/have problems
with Saddam Hussein and
Iran, not because they con
sidered/considers either a
direct threat to the U.S. but
because they were/are a
threat to Saudi Arabia and its
oil wells. That's why
President Obama's photo-ops
meeting with a smiling King
Abdullah must have warmed
the cold-blooded hearts of
the real power brokers who
ignore the screaming and
whining from Rush
Limbaugh, Sean Hannity,
Bill O'Reilly and their fellow
trash talkers.
As for the speech at Cairo
Unive?sity, it really didn't
have much new information
Photo by Olivier Douhcry Ahaca Pre*s/M(T
President Obama disembarks from Marine One after arriv
ing at the White House on Sunday after his trip to the
Middle East and Europe.
to say about the Israeli-Arab
conflict., Full of rhetorical
flourishes, soaring platitudes
and pious quotes from the
Koran and the Talmud, the
spcech. with one significant
exception, contained senti
ments that either have been
said or could have been said
by any of President Obama's
immediate five predecessors.
The exception being that nei
ther of the others could men
tion having a Muslim father.
What made the speech
historic and so enthusiasti
cally received, despite its rel
ative blandness, was that
President Obama. in a public
relations master stroke,
delivered it in Cairo.
If it had been delivered,
with the exact same content,
in Washington, New York,
Paris. London etc, it might
have elicited a "been there
done that, bought that t
shirt" response from many
people.
As for those who are
frothing at the mouth about
President Obama comparing
the situations between the
Israelis and the Palestinians,
it is my Malcolm X - influ
enced skeptical viewpoint
that Israel's Prime Minister.
Benjamin Netanyahu, was
given the basic thrusts of the
speech when he recently vis
ited President Obama in
Washington. The Israelis
know that when all is said
and done, they have the
Bomb and the Arabs don't.
From all indications,
many, if not most, Arabs
were very impressed with
and moved by President
Obama's speech. Thus, the
U.S. powers-that-are are all
aglow about another propa
gandistic slam dunk.
Journalist/ Lecturer A.
Peter Bailey, a former asso
ciate editor of Ebony, is cur
rently editor of Vital Issues:
The Journal of African
American Speeches. He can
be reached at
apeterb? verizon .net.