Ikenna Ubaka. “We made it to the theatre LATE again! I think it’s just as irritating to the audience, and to the actors, as it is to me when we arrive during the show. Still, I was glad that we were there and thankful that “Gem of the Ocean” is 2 hours and 30 minutes long, since we missed the first 20 minutes. The question is….would the opening scene have helped the youth to understand the play better, because as you will read…the pre-teens said they just didn’t “get it”. As for me, I love August Wilson plays. I’ve seen several other productions in San Francisco and Oakland and was excited to see how Atlanta would fare in their production. This was my first time seeing “Gem”. The acting was superb. It is dazzling to watch a live performance go forward so flawlessly, particularly when they had so many long monologues.”

Aziza and Zenzele (known affectionately as the “twin cousins”), were trying to practice their theatre etiquette, but it wasn’t too easy after an hour. Here are their comments.

Zenzele (age 12). “I didn’t really understand what it was about. It was more of a play for adults and people over the age of 18. It was confusing to me because I didn’t usually understand what the characters were talking about. I couldn’t follow the storyline, so I kept falling asleep. It seemed to be about a character name Mr. Citizen and he was a killer and running from the police. There was an old lady who showed people a better way to live, and a lady name Black Mary who was a maid. Mr. Citizen went to the old lady to “wash his soul” which I guess means to get rid of his sins. The old lady just tricked him into believing he was going to the City of Bones. But that was only a state of mind.

I think that the play is on a higher maturity level than I am. Some parts of the play were really funny, like the part when the sheriff talked really fast”.

Aziza, age 12. ” I agree that the play was more for a mature audience, like those over 21 years of age. The play was basically about the times right after slavery. The scene that comes to my mind the most is when the sheriff shot Saully, the guy who burned down the mill. You wouldn’t think that one African American would kill another one because they were right out of slavery. So you would think they would have more respect for one another. The other scene is when Mr. Citizen got his soul washed from killing someone. It stood out because it made me think about what it was like for enslaved African Americans. After he got the paper boat, he went through the gate keepers, and there was still more to get through.

The set design was really cool. The water coming out the pump and the way the kitchen was made — it looked very realistic.”

Vertis Prout (Grandma) - It was a very good play. I enjoyed it very much. The character I liked the most was the young man, Mr. Citizen. It was interesting to watch all the parts/ the roles/ and people of this play. I was caught up with the part of him going to get the pennies and what he would really do with those pennies. Since I am always finding pennies and saving pennies, and there are stories behind my pennies too. Wherever I’m walking I look around for pennies. I save them, I give them away. I just have them for different reasons. Anyway, Mr. Citizen used his pennies to start on his journey to wash his soul. And in the end, he gave those pennies to the dead man to help him get back through the City of the Bones.

I liked that the play had a little singing in it. I can’t recall the names of the songs, but they were old spirituals.

That’s about it, except I want to say I like the whole cast. Everybody was really good.”

       The Black List event drew the largest turnout of the Ubaka/Prout family.  Not only did the family members who usually attend the Atlanta Family Dialogue Program attend the full night of activities, but we  brought along our visiting oldest brother from California, Onunze, his wife, Lilia and his two adult daughters, Malika and Khaliah.  Here are a few comments from the family about this wonderful  experience.

Isiah Ubaka-Sampson, age 17.   It was a good experience.  I learned something tonight.  I liked what Al Sharpton said about the difference between the youth of today and his generation.  He said his generation had something to hold onto like the civil rights movement that was rooted in churches.  He said that just because we’re Black we don’t have to act like a thug.  I learned a lot from the photo exhibit, History Re-mix.  I learned alot about how they went through segregation.

Muhammad Ubaka-Sampson, age 10.  I liked going to the Museum and learning about all that stuff we went through, and that we have been fighting for a long time just to make things right.  Some of the pictures showed me that they cared about alot of people and didn’t want anyone to get hurt.  I saw the non-violence. Alot of young people were getting arrested and not fighting back at the police.  I liked the pictures that showed what Martin Luther King was like.  I saw him playing with his children. 

I was sleep through a lot of the movie.  But I remember the part about the man who burned down his house when he was little.  He had to move to his Grandma’s house.  He would sit on his Grandma’s lap and they would read the Bible together.  I also like the part when the guy was explaining when he was in the war.  He talked about the Black troops .

Hakiem Ubaka-Sampson, age 16.  I like the Black List movie.  It had alot of history about Black people, alot of important information and showed just how far we’ve come.  It was basically saying our job isn’t done yet.   

The History Remix exhibit and the movie kind of correlated.  After seeing the movie, it makes you get a better understanding of what they were talking about in the exhibit.  You saw people getting sprayed with water hoses and having dogs attacking them.   The police who should have been protecting them, were instead against them.

Onunze Ubaka, eldest son of Roosevelt Prout.  With the movie, The Black List, I enjoyed everyone’s insight into the plight of our people.  I was particularly impressed with Colin Powell because he seemed to be concerned and had a good perspective about how racism affects his life.  I had written him off as a person who was not concerned about our people.  I was wrong.  The fact that he turned down the invitation to address  the Million Man March, that made me assume he didn’t have a feel for his people.   However, having heard him in the movie,  I understand that he is still apart of the family and should always have a voice in our struggle.  Had I not seen the Black List,  I may never had a change of opinion.

Keenan Ivory Wynans was impressive too.  His approach to filmmaking showed initiative on his part, ie. filmmaking without city permits and all the alternative things he did to accomplish his goals.   He filled a vacuum — a void, by becoming a Black filmmaker.  He juxtoposed how white people and Black people react in films and to life situation. 

The History Remix exhibit reminded me of how recent the Civil Rights struggle  really is.  It feels like a long time ago, but seeing those pictures reminded me that it was just yesterday.   My father had similar pictures of me in the 1960’s in San Francisco.   At my age of 55, you realize that we should still be engaged in forward movement.   Those pictures were really worth a hundred thousand words.

Roosevelt Prout.   The movie, Black List, reminded me of looking at a movie that you’ve already seen.  It was like an extraordinarary way of waking up out of a dream.  Colin Powell and others talked about things I know and am familiar with.  I was listening and knew the outcomes. On the other hand,   I couldn’t relate so much to the things that the youngsters said but I was impressed because I learned alot and took away another viewpoint of them such as the tennis star and how her father went out and taught himself and then helped turn his two daughters into superstars. 

Malika Ubaka,  I was very excited to go the viewing of the Black List. My Auntie told me about the event when I arrived in Atlanta from California. I had the opportnity to see the photo exhibit at The Sun Dance Film Festival earlier this year, I was very impressed. I however didn’t get to see the actual film segment but I knew that from the information I recieved there at the festival it would be  a delight. I really liked hearing different perspectives and point of views from various influental African Americans on issues that surround our community. Being able to share this experience with my family made it all the more enjoyable. One thing that I didn’t like was part where I was freezing cold from the Air conditioning but because I was very interested in  who was going to come on and speak next I just sat in my seat and rubbed my hands on my arms back and forth to calm down the chill bumps. (lol).  After the Black List was over my family and I decided to walk over to the History Remix at the High Museum and check out the photos and information. I love to see the history of my people. I often find my self asking a lot of questions when I see the struggle my people went through in the civil rights days. I had the honor of being able to have my father and grandfather there to speak with us about this time period. It really gets me upset to see that my father was born at a time when he wasn’t allowed to go to school wth whites.  We as a people have come a long way but we still have a long way to go. This is a conversation that sparked between my father, myself and my granfather. We all looked at the  many photos and one that I saw for the first time was a picture of Dr. King in his casket. We then moved over to the next room and  joked around with each other on who we thought the picture’s looked like in our family on the wall that highlighted photos from the70’s and 80’s images. We then  went down in the lobby after viewing the last of the photos and took photos of our own that our family can use for our personal photo album. My family is always taking photos and capturing the moment. I can really appreciate that the older I get. All in all, it was a great time and it makes me feel proud to be in the African American Race and I love being Black just like my shirt said at the viewing of The Black List. I also feel like this program is something great to keep families strong and positive while spending quality time together.   Peace n Blessings Malika……

Zenzele Ubaka-Coulter, age 12.  i liked the History Remix exhibit better than the Black List movie because it was more interesting and I could interpret what I thought was happening and say what I thought about it without being judged .  My favorite section of the pictures was the one in color that I believe were commercial pictures that had the labels taken off.  I think that they did that because they wanted people to try and see what they think it could be about.  I think that the movie was a little slow, so it was not as interesting, but I liked Chris Rock, Kenin Wayins and Serina Williams.  They were funny, so i was captured by that.

Aziza Ubaka-Sampson, age 12.  I really enjoyed the outing with my family; it really helped me connect with my family.   I especially liked  the art gallery; the exhibit helped me realize what our people before us had to go through. The pictures made me focus, as a young person, on what freedom we have today and what the people did to help us earn these rights.   I also enjoyed Keenan Waynes part of the movie presentation, The Black List. His way of expression was very funny. I also  thought that the scary movie explaination was really funny because the way he described how African Americans react in scary movies. I found that really enjoyable. Now I would like to go back to pictures in the art gallery. One particular picture that caught my eye  was the one  where the man poured an acid (Bleach) into a pool of African Amercans. So I thought why did this man do this and the obvious answer that came to mind was race. If there was a way i could change this I would.   This night really made me see the real world and the gift that we have now as a new generation.

Hello, Atlanta Dialogue Family. My name is Dr. Kawalie M. Fataki III. I am an Educator. For now, may I teach you how to pronounce my first name. This task is somewhat tricky yet easy, but, most importantly, entertaining and healthy. Simply try these few steps:

One: Stand in front of a normal mirror.

Two: Utter in one stream: “cow-Ali”.

(If, by the time you finish,  a nice smile is lit on your face,)

Three: Feel free & shout, ”Got it!”

Four: Be kind enough to share  your feedback, experience.

Ciao!

Kawalie

I had a good day because I learned alot about Civil Rights. I learned about how black people struggled to earn the right to vote. Also, I learned about how people were hurt and arrested for trying to stand up for their rights. But, now thanks to Martin Luther King and other leaders, we are now treated fairly.

I fill pretty good because I saw someone from civil rights .  I also feel bad because they got beaten and arrested.  But the good thing is, they don’t get beaten anymore.  And I also had a good day at the High Museum.

On May 4, we invited your family to join us in visiting the new exhibit at the High, Young Americans, Photographs by Sheila Pree Bright. This dynamic new body of work by the Atlanta-based photographer is a portraiture project exploring the attitudes and opinions of young Americans (18-25 years old) toward their nation and their identity as Americans.  After we viewed the exhibit, we met as a group at the Woodruff Arts Center for the family dialogue topic - What does it mean to be an American?  Many of you had strong emotions awakened by the pictures, the description of the photographs and our discussion afterwards.  Let’s continue this dialogue online.

“Which photograph most expanded my notion of what it means to be an American, and how?”

“In viewing this art exhibit I discovered what I feel about others and their feelings about being an American – I believe I am a true American because…”

Let us know how you feel.

You can also share with us your family poem or any other topic we have discussed at the orientation – thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!