Joe Nolan's Insomnia » Black Panthers

Angola 3

Joe Nolan — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 04:38:05 +0000

PM Press sent me an email today announcing a Black History Month sale on DVD’s of the provocative prison documentary, The Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation. Here’s the word from the PM site where you can buy the film for 50% off using the coupon code FEBRUARY…

The Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation tells the gripping story of Robert King, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, men who have endured solitary confinement longer than any known living prisoner in the United States. Politicized through contact with the Black Panther Party while inside Louisiana’s prisons, they formed one of the only prison Panther chapters in history and worked to organize other prisoners into a movement for the right to live like human beings. This feature length movie explores their extraordinary struggle for justice while incarcerated in Angola, a former slave plantation where institutionalized rape and murder made it known as one of the most brutal and racist prisons in the United States. The analysis of the Angola 3’s political work, and the criminal cases used to isolate and silence them, occurs within the context of the widespread COINTELPRO being carried out in the 1960’s and 70’s by the FBI and state law enforcement against militant voices for change.

In a partial victory, the courts exonerated Robert King of the original charges and released him in 2001; he continues the fight for the freedom of his two brothers. The ongoing campaign, which includes a civil case soon to come before the Supreme Court, is supported by people and organizations such as Amnesty International, the A.C.L.U., Harry Belafonte, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, Ramsey Clark, Sen. John Conyers, Sister Helen Prejean, (the late) Anita Roddick, Bishop Desmond Tutu and the ANC. Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox have now endured as political prisoners in solitary confinement for over thirty-five years.

Narrated by Mumia Abu-Jamal, The Angola 3 features interviews with former Panthers, political prisoners and revolutionaries, including the Angola 3 themselves, and Bo Brown, Geronimo (ji Jaga) Pratt, Malik Rahim, Yuri Kochiyama, David Hilliard, Rod Coronado, Noelle Hanrahan, Kiilu Nyasha, Marion Brown, Luis Talamantez, Gail Shaw and many others. Portions of the proceeds go to support the Angola 3. Features the music of Truth Universal written by Tajiri Kamau.

Purchase the discounted DVD above in order to access all the extras and special features. Here’s The Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Planatation…

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more Counter Culture posts.

Huey’s Day

Joe Nolan — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 06:38:36 +0000

On February 17 we celebrate the 1942 birthday of the founder of the Black Panther Party, Huey P. Newton. Anyone paying attention to Black Lives Matter can’t help but see parallels to the same challenges that faced the Black Panthers way back in the 1960′s. Here’s a 1968 documentary film made by the Panthers: Huey! honors the group’s celebrated leader, advocating for his release from prison…

Documentary film produced by American Documentary Films and the Black Panther Party from 1968, honoring Huey P. Newton’s struggle for Afrikan human rights in AmeriKKKa, advocating for his release from jail and addressing issues of racism in AmeriKKKan society. Features scenes from the funeral of Bobby Hutton and the Huey P. Newton Birthday Rally in the Oakland Auditorium on February 17th 1968, with speeches by: Bobby Seale (who explains the Black Panther Party’s 10 Point Program in detail); Ron Dellums; James Foreman; Charles R. Garry; Eldridge Cleaver; Bob Avakian; H. Rap Brown and Stokely Carmichael. Also includes views of KKKops showing the weapons and armor they carry in patrol cars and of Afrikans discussing racism in AmeriKKKan society. This film was scripted and directed by Sally Pugh.

Here’s Huey!…

Stay Awake!

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more Counter Culture posts.

Dig The Diggers

Joe Nolan — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 02:46:52 +0000

Adding to my recent posts about San Francisco in the 1960′s, I think it’s important to look at the hippies themselves — who were all these long-haired freaks? The question matters for anyone interested in understanding where more recent counter-cultural movements have come from, and it’s one that reveals surprising answers, offering deep, novel veins to be explored, rediscovered and sifted through.

The long-haired kids all over the Bay Area came from many backgrounds for many reasons. I can’t begin to address all of them here, but let’s look at a handful: The New Left, anti-war protest movement was based in Berkeley while their militant, black brothers fought for civil rights out of Oakland. Many of the kids were there for the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, making claims to interest in higher-consciousness with various levels of commitment. Of course, there was a lot of overlap. Of course, I’m forced to generalize in a brief blog post.

The group that most interests me, stood apart from all the others in important ways while simultaneously engaging the city’s culture with provocative performance, theater and art experiments. The Diggers began as a mime troupe that decided that political change was only possible through cultural change so they set about living as if the revolution had already been won.

This is their story:

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more counter culture posts.

Back in Black: Agnes Varda’s Panthers

Joe Nolan — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 05:30:47 +0000

The French filmmaker Agnes Varda’s candid camera work, and the natural performances and settings in her narrative films and documentaries influenced no less than Jean-Luc Godard. As a result, Varda is considered to be one of the key influences in the development of the French New Wave.

In 1968, Varda traveled to America to shoot her short film Black Panthers — Huey!. Here’s what the Virtual Circuit site says about the movie:

This riveting documentary, “Black Panthers – Huey!”, directed by French filmmaker Agnès Varda transports you to the pivotal Free Huey rally held on February 17th, 1968 (Newton’s birthday), at Oakland Auditorium in Alameda, California. Newton, the charismatic young college student who, along with Bobby Seale, created the Black Panther Party, had been jailed for allegedly killing a police officer. His arrest–widely believed at the time to be a setup–galvanized Party support throughout the nation and led to a boom in Party membership, bringing a new level of public attention to the Panthers’ cause. Over 5,000 people attended the rally, which featured Party leaders and guest speakers including Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale, James Forman, Bob Avakian, Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown and Ron Dellums. Through stark un-editorialized footage, this documentary chronicles the speakers outlining the Party’s platform goals, their strategies for freeing Newton from jail and more. B&W, 31 minutes.
Plus: BLACK PANTHER NEWSREEL (USA, 1968): The California Newsreel was an underground alternative to the commercial broadcast media of the 1960’s. This unique clip provides a chilling look at the California racial environment of 1968, including demonstration scenes outside the Alameda County Jail. A rare in-jail interview with Huey P. Newton, is featured, with Eldridge Cleaver and Bobby Seale also offering perspectives on the Panthers and what they perceive as police brutality on the black community. Essential viewing for anyone interested in American or Afro-American history, these two pieces provide an entertaining and educational look at a turbulent, incendiary time.

Here is the film.

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia.

Stay Awake!