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Imagine Peace Say Young Filmmakers by Maria Pecot
Director Shaka Jamal Redmond instructing two dancers in Thigh Bone, a 24 hour video project class, featuring spoken word artists like Ise Lyfe, created in association with the San Francisco Film Society. Shown here with rock photographer Neil Motteram. photo CineSource
Oakland, California suffers from a bad rap. Although the city is a Mecca for new business and the arts, Oakland's media coverage is focused around violence. The tragic Oscar Grant shooting and the recent murders of four Oakland police officers have garnered national coverage that worsens the city's negative image. Overshadowed by bad media is Oakland more functional side. Grass roots movements going on in this city are creating real social change. And while you may not hear about these movements in the Los Angeles Times or on CNN, this does not mean that they are not making a difference. I had the opportunity to sit down with Jasmene Consuelo Miranda and Shomari Smith, two young filmmakers who are using their art as a way to inspire peace.
Two years ago Jasmene Consuelo Miranda was a typical twenty-something college graduate working for KTOP, the city of Oakland's television department. One day Miranda picked up a newspaper and saw a picture of a young man she went to school with, who had been murdered four years earlier. "At that point I realized I was disconnected from my community," says Miranda. Miranda is an articulate young woman who grew up in Sobrante Park, a neighborhood of Oakland that is separated from the rest of the city by railroad tracks and industrial buildings. Sobrante Park is known for gang violence and drug crimes.
Miranda wanted to find a creative outlet and, at the same time, she wanted to do something good for the community. "I'm not a demonstrator, I'm not an organizer, what can I do?" She approached Shomari Smith, a colleague at KTOP and together they came up with the concept for Imagine Peace, an unscripted series of public service announcements featuring Bay Area activists and spoken word artists. Each PSA features the artist's vision for peace in their community and lives.
For the first PSA, they hooked up with Ise Lyfe, a local performance artist and teacher. Miranda had been interested in meeting Ise for some time and, as fate would have it, Smith's wife was a friend of the artist.
Ise Lyfe, a spoken word artist, has worked a lot with Imagine Peace, a series of pro-active PSAs. photo Jasmene Miranda
"Ise Lyfe came in, he did the piece for us and we were blown away. We were, like, this is gonna be big," says Smith. "I didn't censor it, I didn't edit it, nothing. He just came in raw, and delivered it for us and it was wonderful. It was hot and we were, like, We need to keep doing this."
Energized, Smith and Consuelo embarked upon their project "under the radar, off hours because we wanted to take it to our boss, and say, 'Look what we can do." When they showed the first PSA to their station manager, Ashley James, he put his full support behind it. With the support of Ashley, Imagine Peace obtained public funding through the city. Imagine Peace has gone on to produce eight more PSA's and they are in the process of creating a docu-series set to be released this May. Featured artists include acclaimed keyboardist Kev Choice and Oakland emcee Big Dan from the group Brown Buffalo. Ruby Dee, a former student of Ise Lyfe, has also been featured, representing a legacy of sorts.
"What's really big about bringing something like this to the channel is that we work for a government-access station where there aren't many things that speak to the younger people," says Smith. KTOP has a following of older people and according to Smith, they are now encouraging younger generations to get involved and to be aware of what is going on with the city. As Miranda puts it, "Public safety is part of local government."
Ise Lyfe Counters Misogyny in Music Video: Thigh Bone
It's not a typical Saturday at KTOP. Young women in brightly colored outfits fill the waiting room chairs ready to make a cameo appearance in Thigh Bone, a music video directed by Shaka Jamal Redmond with assistance from the SF Film Society. The song was written and produced by Ise and features the hip-hop group Zion and I. "The song is about empowering women who aren't usually celebrated in music media." Ise goes on, "You have a big girl, a girl that's ghetto, and a girl that's sexually confident, and in our videos the girl's aren't accessories."
Ise felt that the song was important to because in the black community issues like misogyny and the abuse of women are often overshadowed by racism and Black male incarceration. "When we talk about peace, we can't have it if we don't look back at Black male supremacy and the degrading of our women," says Ise. Although this is their own project, Ise is also working with Imagine Peace on their docu-series, set to be released in May.
Imagine Peace Has Far-Reaching Effects
Modern technology is a powerful tool. It opens divisive boundaries and allows dialogue to occur over thousand of miles. Miranda credits the Internet for helping get the Imagine Peace message out to the community. "I had a teacher from Chicago contact me; he said they had lost 21 kids in a year, and he wanted me to send over the Imagine Peace PSA's." says Miranda. "I get a lot of hits off the Internet; YouTube is a powerful tool."
One day Miranda received an email from a man by the name of Frankie Springhart who lives in Texas. Springhart had recently lost his niece, Falon C. Taylor, to violence in Carbondale, Illinois. After watching an Imagine Peace PSA online, Springhart was inspired to start the F.A.L.O.N. Project, named after his niece, and also an acronym for Fostering Awareness In Our Neighborhoods. Springhart also sent Miranda bracelets with the words "FALON" and "Imagine Peace" printed on them.
Miranda tearfully recalls how he told her that they had found his niece's killer. "I don't even know this person, but he said he was inspired by us and wanted to do something. The family kept her murder in the news, using the media, non-stop, and a year later, almost a year and a half later he sends me a link to the press conference. The police in Carbondale had caught the suspect in the murder case. That's when I knew we had hit gold..." Posted on Apr 07, 2009 - 06:21 AM