Sundance Highlights:The Black Power Mixtape, Pariah

The Black Power Mixtape

The Black Power Mixtape

“But everyone involved with us that we approached for interviews and participation have been so generous and giving including Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, Harry Belafonte, Kathleen Cleaver, Sonia Sanchez, Bobby Seale and Questlove, who also provided the film with best imaginable music.”

via Filmmaker

Pariah

Pariah

“The biggest surprise associated with making Pariah came after watching the first rough cut when we discovered that this was not a “black lesbian” movie. We had fought this BRUTAL uphill battle in funding the film with financiers and investors balking at the story because it was “too small and specific” (which is code for “too black and too gay”). After we screened the first cut, one of our early advisors went so far as to describe it as “commercial.” We didn’t know whether to slap them or celebrate.”

Dee Rees

Woman, 80, convicted of $8,900 Calif. jewel theft

Woman, 80, convicted of $8,900 Calif. jewel theft

Woman, 80, convicted of $8,900 Calif. jewel theft

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An 80-year-old woman who claims to be an international jewel thief with a five-decade career has been convicted of stealing an $8,900 ring from a San Diego store.

Doris Payne, of Long Beach, was found guilty Wednesday of burglary and grand theft. She could face more than 5½ years in prison.

Prosecutors say Payne walked away with the diamond ring from a Macy’s jewelry counter last year and told authorities she sold it.

Her attorney denied that Payne was the thief seen in store video.

Payne, who was born in West Virginia, has been jailed in several states. She claims to have shoplifted jewelry from New York to Monte Carlo.

The San Diego Union-Tribune says a documentary of her life is being made.

GANGTA!

via The Grio

Young Women Lead the Way to Green Economic Development on the Navajo Nation

Thanks to a diverse array of activist leaders at the helm of groups like Black Mesa Water Coalition (BMWC) and the Navajo Green Economy Coalition (NGEC), the Navajo Nation is moving towards a sustainably powered bright future. Women’s leadership has played a central role in bringing forth the shift towards collective support for green economic development that is in alignment with traditional Navajo life ways.

Read more.