Author: Carma Henry

       That’s the path of many bright, famous musicians. Struggle. It’s all about the art. Breakthrough. Success. Excess. Downward spiral. Comeback. Fizzle under the weight of drugs, drink and celebrity. That’s the tale this informative Sly & The Family Stone tribute doc tells. That’s the notion created by Oscar®-winning filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson whose Summer of Soul (or…When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), a drummer/musician turned documentarian who redefined the soul music doc genre. With him at the helm, you know at least the music will be a thrill. And it is.

       Sudanese filmmakers, Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea Ahmed along with British director Phil Cox have chronicled the brave exploits of five individuals who ran for their lives. Four storylines depict their shock, fear, grief and ability to survive. Haunted by what they’ve seen and lost. Losing that secure feeling we get from having the stable homes, neighborhoods, communities, jobs and routines that ground us.

       Documentarians Maia Lekow, a renowned Kenyan musician/filmmaker, and her Australian-born husband and co-director Christopher King have given Kenya and the world a point-by-point project outline on how to snatch an outdated institution from the ashes and make it appropriate for the new world. They’ve chronicled the work of a writer named Shiro and a publisher named Wachuka. Two feisty, spirted academics who are turning a symbol of segregation into a lesson on perseverance and community building. The women get a 5-year government contract to renovate and refurbish a library that was segregated until 1958. They tear it apart and build it back up.

 TransAtlantic Journey is the highly anticipated, interdisciplinary narrative album, conceived by musician, theologian and psychologist, Dr. Jerome C. Crichton. The acclaimed project redefines how Black music heritage is appreciated and how the history of enslaved people is understood. This timely release is more than an album—it is a research-based and carefully curated tribute to the resilience, artistry and cultural contributions of all who endured the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Dr. Crichton has also woven the personal history of his own ancestors into every chord, as each album track conveys their Atlantic Ocean journey from Africa to the Americas, and his own journey over the Atlantic Ocean from England to New England, through Afro Fusion Jazz orchestrations.

        The Upstander Theory teaches that bystanders who take action can change the course of injustice, but intervention must be both intentional and informed. We are called to be our brother’s keeper, to act when we witness harm, but we must do so wisely—ensuring that our help does not make us the next casualty.

       The Orange Bowl Committee (OBC) recently named Henri W. Crockett as its 87th president and chair, marking a historic milestone as the first Orange Bowl alumnus to hold the position.

       LaVar Ball confirmed a recent report that his right foot has been amputated.

The Alabama A&M offensive lineman was impressive in on-field drills during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Sunday in front of professional talent evaluators.

     It also saves communities. It makes air and water cleaner and safer. It saves households money on their electricity bills. And it makes way for growth in renewable energy, which is better for the environment, makes power grids more resilient and reliable, and creates more jobs than coal ever will – or ever should – again.   

     The words are from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (where else?), explaining the root causes of a dystopian world. The book may be a work of fiction, but his words are deeply embedded in reality – we need enemies, the worse the better! This certainty may well be humanity’s most profound existential threat. I fear it could be “the meteor” that hits Planet Earth, ultimately spelling extinction for the dominant species.