Wed
May 17, 2017
4:30 am
 - 
7:00 am
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About

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, MoAD presents a six-part film series exploring the influence of Black culture on the counter culture of the time. Conjure up sights and sounds from San Francisco’s legendary 1967 Summer of Love and invariably it will be of long-haired, pot-smoking young white people dancing to rock music in Golden Gate Park. They were “the hippies” who defined a youth culture and way of life that challenged and shocked the country’s established mores.

However what is often unacknowledged is that Black musicians, writers and thinkers in California and beyond helped shape and enrich the cultural developments leading up to the Summer of Love as well as during and immediately afterwards.

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez (Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, Sabrina Gordon Schmidt, 2015, 91 minutes)

This documentary offers unprecedented access to the life, work and mesmerizing performances of renowned poet and activist Sonia Sanchez who describes herself as "a woman with razor blades between my teeth." A leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and inspiration to today's hip hop spoken word artists, Sanchez for over 60 years has helped to redefine American culture and politics.  She revolutionized poetry by incorporating street language, a unique performance style and collaborations with jazz musicians.

And in 1965, Sanchez moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, teaching some of the first Black Studies courses in the nation and participated in the San Francisco State Strike which succeeded in establishing the country's first College of Ethnic Studies in 1969. Sanchez supported the programs of the Black Panther Party and contributed articles to its newspaper.

The screening will be introduced by poet and MoAD Deputy Director Michael Warr, and followed by a discussion with Sonia Sanchez via Skype.

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org

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