Black History

I was blessed to go to the premiere of the Pan African Film Festival, which is an event this hosted every year at the Ball when he was Crushaw Plaza and they feature a lot of independent films from America and the and the African diaspora. And it's this is the thirty one, thirty one anniversary, so that's a milestone and they've been doing this for thirty one years and it's basically you accentuating the art of film where we feature black you know, directors and actors as well as

um our art show. So then they bring artists around the country in different parts of the world. They come in and they display their art throughout the mall Ball when he scrunch our mall and they as well as they showed these short films feature films and so I went to the opening was magnificent was beautiful because they premiered this movie and I and listen, I'm in a bookstore, and I come across a lot of books. But the

more I know, the more I don't know. And sometimes, you know, I learned about different people in different parts of history, you know, by being present in the community. And so they premiered this movie. It was magnificent. It was called Shavia. Now I don't know from pronouncing right, but I believe it's called shave A. It's a French

word and it means night. This name was bestowed upon Joseph Boulogne, who was a black composer by Lenniz that was exceptional, gifted, and he was the main composer and violence in Paris, France years ago Undersembly, late seventeen hundreds, and he was brought to France from America. His father was a white slave plantation owner who raped a black woman.

Had a child who had a gift, who could play the violin, and he felt it was a waste of time to waste his time and him being a slave, so he brought him to France and showed his gift as a little kid Problam around tenure ten years old, and he went to school in France, UM, and he went through a lot of racism, discrimination because France was still you know, they many of them believe in slavery, and many blacks in France at that time with slaves. But this guy he went to school, he um was

in a highly influential school. He had a gift, and he was hated on. But you know, like Jackie Robinson, perseverance, resilience, UM, you're able to go through whatever the noise is, the oppression is. And still he thought, you know, his father told him one thing, excellence, you know, changed people's minds. So we know all about that. In America, well, Joseph Baloge became a great sourceman, he became a great violinist,

a great composer. So Queen of France at that time recognized his gift and bestowed name shavay on Joseph Bologne, and that helped him to walk into many doors and give him the prestige and the excellence that he earned through his hard work. And he wanted to become the head composer for the House of Opera in France, and in his ambition, their lies, the racism and the continue racism, I should say, and oppression now coming from the Queen Marie and Toinette, whom he and her had been friends,

but it was more so of a relationship. There was one dimensional and when Queen was faith with h recognizing him as the new composer, she denounced him, and that put him in a position where he finally realized that he's just a tool for them to use. As his mother had already told him who he was, she was, he was ripped away from her as a ten year old who as a slave, and he was brought to France, and then his mother was sent to France upon the

death of his father. He didn't leave him anything because he was a bastard as they say, right, mulatto as they say right. So he didn't leave meny things. But he did one thing, guess what guess he did two things. He took him to France though he can, I guess, explore his guilt and make him excellent instead of wasting

as being a cotton picker. And the other thing is when he died his father, Joseph Blown father died, he sent his his mom to France to be with him, so they were united after many years and so they were able to create a bond and relationship. But his other said three things that I really start stuck out to me in the movie. Okay, now, we know sometimes in movies there is you know, it's some fictitious things that's put in. I mean, after all, we're not little

living during that time. But it is a good depiction of the racism, the discrimination oppression that black people suffer in Europe and France, as well as how a former slave, Joseph Boulogne became a freeman, an elevated man and a well respected man, and a man who helped create a movement through his music in France to help deliber nation and rights to the citizens of France and give liberty

to people in France. And he helped us his music to bring about the ventual transformation of the monarchy in France back and this all happened before Napoleon budapart. So but three things that I got to mention that the mother of Joseph's Bulogne, Joseph blog Chevy, said that to me stood out in that movie, and that was she told her son, you're nothing, You're nothing but a tool of puppet and you need to, you know, see it for what it is. That was I think very very

um electric to hear her say that. And he had to see it for himself over, you know, he had to find himself again, and he had to find his culture again. And that's one of the things what he's known for as a composer, as a conductor is that he woved in from synagog where they were from. I believe he rolled in the African culture and music inside of you know, the Um French art and French um orchestra.

And so he's known today for his his genius are woven in his culture and his legacy and his African descent. It's all woven into his genius and his music. And now we have a movie called Shaviia. And let me tell you something. The other two things that the mother pointed out there was obsolutely to me on the money, and that was she said, the greatest crime wasn't the physical slavery. The greatest was the mental slavery enslaveman that

the white man did. And she said that to her son, she says, the mental slave, she said, because you always have a choice. That's the third thing, you know, the damage that was done to black people is not the physical part of physical slavery all the world. But you know what, it's the torture, the mental torture, the spiritual torture when you rob the people of the name of the ancestors, that connection their roots, you know, the history,

their religions, their their their culture, their traditions. You know, I already said the name, and you couldn't read, you couldn't write. This is all mental tord This is far beyond physical slave slavery. And that was the greatest crime that was committed when you strip a mind, of of human being of their right of liberty, freedom and justice physically, but to do that mentally, also to do that mentally, that's damaging. And that's why it's a lot of trauma

and issues you know, postpart part postpartum slavery syndrone. We call it still exist because what was done to the mind. And the mother pointed that out in the movie. Excellent point. And the next other excellent point was the fact that she said, you know, when they took her son, she said, every day she would get up and run off that plantation to find her son, to be with her son, and they would capture her back, But she said, I didn't care if I lost my life. You know why,

because you always got a choice. You always got a choice, even if it meant death, even if it meant death. And when people say, oh, in slavery, we didn't have a choice, that's a line. You always got a choice. You chose not to run off and free yourself for whatever reason, fear wife, Well you couldn't, really, marys it was in secret or your children, whatever the reason is.

If you stay and get tortured, raped, oppressed, discriminated against, enslaved, and then you say, oh, and you look at the earth and all this land and all this space and all this like, man, what's stopping you from running off and trying to free yourself? This woman said, man, I tried every day to find my son, to be with my son, and even if it meant death, She said, you always got a choice. You always got a choice.

You might not like the choice because it might mean death, it might mean imprisonment, it might mean for liberty, for freedom, for justice. Shavali became a revolutionary with his music. They have liberation and they helped the people of friends who was starving. He chose to use his music and put his life on the line and threatened by the general's and the queen and stripped of his title because he didn't play along no more. He realized he was none

but a puppet. They're used by them. He began to use his music to free people, to help the cause of liberation, to help free men get rights, free women get rights. We witnessed that in America. We witnessed that doing you know, all the different movements that have taken place in America where people or was in the sacrifice their freedoms. They limited freedom because we don't we didn't

have really no freaking many freedom. In order to gain more access, more resources, more education, more opportunity, more of everything, you had to put your life on the line, you had to put your wealth on the line, and you

had to make some sacrifices, just like in America. Well, the movie was inspired because Joseph blog the Night the Shavai at the same struggle as many of our ancestors in America are activists, are revolutionaries in America, and people who are making a stand today to get access two wealth, two good homes, two opportunities, education resources. So you know, it was just a familyous movie. I enjoyed it. I

think that it's a movie for everybody. But it was, you know, it was definitely a character I did not know anything about. So Hey when the movie come out and it was directed by a young man in France, I mean, I'm sorry, young man from Canada, young black director from Canada. So it's just uh an acknowledgement of to day of another great unsongd hero that many, it was, were not aware of, then made a sacrifice of black excellence in the seventh at late seventeen Hunters in His

name is Shavy Joseph Alone. We're in town to talk about the Fame Game. You didn't manage superstars, you didn't manage you know a listeners Michael Jackson and Beatles Batman. Learn who else you saying? Now, Paul McCartney, I did this and here now you got your book, and it's called The Fame Game, Game and Instills play Book for earning your fifteen minutes and and two minutes. Tell me about it. Well, it's really a hybrid, it's say. I

like to think of it as three linear stories. One is on the systemic racism that's existed in our system in terms of the music industry since you know, when I started in business, which was in the early seventies, you know, not too like when you think about it, the Voting Rights Act was passed in nineteen so there weren't a lot of people of my color that were in the record industry at that time. So I talked about that that and how that is influenced and you know,

our growth as a culture through the entertainment industry. And also the fact that if there's a double standard for how black stars, how black artists becomes stars as compared to white artists. So I talked about that, and I talked about my story, uh evolving and trying to work at you know, big corporations. I worked at Motown. I worked at a big company called almost all white company called Roger's Encounter. Was the only black there. Um I

became their very first black vice president. And I talked about that, just my growth in the in the business and how I was able to navigate and build my own brand so that could go out and be an entrepreneur. And so now we had the fame game bingo, and then I was in Tenants of Fame at the very end, and I used I don't believe that fame is a destination. I think it's an alkalade and it's something that has

a bi product of being successful. So I always say, you know, don't steps about donor steps about fame, obsess about being the best, and that fame and success don't come with a warranty. So every person I ever worked with who was famous, they they were all anonymous at one time, and their path to famous is all different. Yeah, you have to There isn't one path that you can say, Okay, if you follow this guideline or template, you can become famous.

Because if there was, that's what I would be selling. It doesn't exist. You know, if I could give someone a vitamin and a meal plan and I exercise plans, say do this for three weeks. In two weeks, you're gonna wake up one morning you're gonna be famous. It doesn't that. So in the book, I try to give the you know, the hard work that went into all of these people that I worked with who worked their assets off to really become successful. We never talked about

being famous. We just talked about being successful and how do we marry their art form with commercial viability because that's really what it comes down to. If you create great part meaning music, film, TV, and you're able to commercially exploit it, it provides an opportunity to be successful. That gives you currency, which becomes a tool, which leads to becoming fame, and you can leverage fame in your business. But theme to me is really it's an emotional It's

like happiness. It doesn't last forever. When everyone I've worked with failed and they're not you know, they went through phases where they weren't as famous as they went to words. So you have to understand that. You have to realize that, you know, it's it's fleeting. It's not something that you're gonna always be able to have. So you have to understand that emotional imbalance that it causes. And how do

you deal with that when you're no longer relevant? Yeah, well I always say like success is just a moment of time. Yes, it comes in moments, it comes in, It comes when you least expected. So that's another thing I said, don't wait, you know, because it may not ever when you may never arrive when you wanted to come. So the wave is uping down, that's right, you don't know. So those are all things that are in the game.

Hervey the second, Thank You, My brother. The Leak Books has a couple of events this week coming up for Black History Month. We're hosting these events at the ball when Hills Creenshawn Plaza, which is a thirty six fifty mon Luke King Bello. If you're in every review in town, come on through because we have some electric events. First up, on Monday, February thirteen, at seven pm, we're gonna be

hosting an event called Black Hollywood Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments. Now, this book was written by a celebrity photographer, Correll Augustus. So what we have in is a pound of discussion and a book signing right after the panel discussion. So Correll Augustus what he's done, and it took him twelve years to make this book. Um, but it's a an artistic pictorial book moving you around the iconic Hollywood movie moments such as, UM, James Bond movies, Charlie Choplin movies,

carry that old horror movie, Breakfastentivity Anyway, etcetera, etcetera. So he depicted you know, it's a visual photography book that brings together the best of classic Hollywood with today's iconic Black entertainers for an immersed experience. Are like anything you've ever seen before. So hey, act A few of the actors are actually gonna be at Malik Books. They're gonna be part of the panel discussion part of the book signing on February seven pm at Maleae Books and Bone

Hills Crisch sh'all mall now. This book features a forward by Academy Award winning Forest Whittaker and an afterwards by the beloved entertainer niece Nash Correll. Augustus has created a who's who of today's Black entertainers, recreating iconic cinematic scenes, renewing readers appreciation of the past, while asking questions about representation in the media and inspired the artists of the future.

So come on out February thirteen, seven pm, Black Hollywood Final Discussion with Carrella Augustus, celebrity photographer and around six seven actors and actors. I ain't gonna get into their names, but come on out now. Moving on, our next event for Black History is Back on Black, a book that was just written and released by Emedy K. Wims. This book Beat on Black Now Every k. Williams is a journalist, is an attorney. You know because she was on Bravo's

Real Housewives of New Yard. She's been on a view many times. So she's a TV personality as well as an author now and she has a podcast and she's a real theme. So Ebany is gonna be discussion her new book, a book signing discussion this February fifth Team at seven o'clock. Now, let me tell you something about the book. Better on Black is an illuminated account or

overcoming at firstly and self acceptance in America. Williams has written an inspiring and hopeful narrative of blackness, urging readers to put a stop to longing for the white experience and instead create their own path towards success and freedom. Ebony K. Williams knew that an important part of her mission as a media personality would be to unabashedly place

blackness on a pedal store. Williams has long known that blackness is a rich, expansive place that centers resilience, excellent beauty, and brilliance. But these notions of blackness have long been distorted by American racism, where for generations black folks have been expected to live a sub ordinate, second class existence

in a country they call home. No more, william says in this book, proclaiming that the good news about being blocked today is that our community has unprecedentedly access to an array of tools to honor our blockness. However we see fit, whenever we see fit, and wherever we see fit better on Black is thus a call to action for black people all over the world to adopt a

first highly informed mindset that will change lives. Williams Dell's into some of the cornerstones of leading a first class black life, including don't let anyone make you their black side kick, carry your blackness proudly everywhere you go, subvert stereotypes, and do you disrupt oppression power structure, no need to co switch, show up as you beautifully are. And the

black community is invisible when we get together. So hey, come on our February fift seven pm at the Ball Milik Books at the bald Hills Cresshaw Mall and come congreate us with us with the book signing, book discussion, Come out back Home, Black Ebony k Women's in the House, Black History Month, Mileague Books, Paul and Hills, Cresshaw Mall Planing. African film festivals going on are all over the mall.

Movies all of that come on out. Thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshow where topics on the sholf, our, books, culture and communities. Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my Instagram at Bleak Books. See you next time,