February 1, 2025
In honor of Black History Month I would like to share a few things.
Manchild in the Promised Land Cover by Claude Brown
You know that feeling, when you pick up a book and you just can’t put it down. Maybe you read it all through the night until your eyes were bloodshot. Maybe you were at work and found yourself sneaking off to the restroom unable to pull yourself away from the pages. I remember the first time this happen to me. The book was written by Claude Brown. The title was Manchild in the Promised Land. It was an autobiography about a juvenile delinquent growing up in NYC. I remember being transported into the lives of young boys and the hardships of poverty. A google search describes it as a coming of age during the 1940s and 1950s in Harlem.
Rather than having pages forced on me as the United States school system likes to do, I found this book in junior high when, for the first time, we were allowed to choose something we wanted to read. Unfortunately, it is a book today that would be pulled off the shelves in some states as it is a documented history of a black mans life of poverty, violence and god forbid depicts a scene indulging in teenage masturbation.
I can’t believe America is going back to a time akin to the movie Footloose where parents were burning books about life; sex, race, culture, history, struggle and activism. No one can erase history. This month is a reminder to honor our history and educate ourselves because we have that right.
This year, 2025, our local Catamount Arts film center is celebrating Black History Month by showing a series of FREE films.
Fences is playing Sunday February 2, 2025 at 2pm. The film is directed by and stars Denzel Washington. It takes place in Pittsburgh in the 1950’s and is a drama about family tensions as an African American man tries to provide for his family. It is based on the Puliter Prize-winning 1985 play written by August Wilson. The play first premiered at the Yale Repertory Theater.
42 is Playing Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at 6pm. It is a film about Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play Major League Baseball in America.
On Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 6pm they will feature Glory, a Civil War film about the first all-Black unit, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, who fought for American freedom. This historical tribute features Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.
On Wednesday February 26th at 6pm Panther will be playing. A historic depiction of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960’s, a movement that fought for civil rights in America.
The Wednesday night film series is hosted by guest curator Robert Farlice who will host a discussion after each screening: That’s every film except for “Fences”. Form more information about the movie series visit https://www.catamountarts.org/film/