Robert Moses Kin Dance Company | San Francisco, CA

A phenomenon since its inception in 1995, the San Francisco-based Robert Moses Kin (also known as RMK Dance Company) boasts a mix of sheer athleticism and visceral lyricism. The company’s mission is to produce work which speaks to what is specific and unique in human nature. The company performances are combination of athletic techniques, rhythmic complexity and gestural details. They are fusion of different styles and genres like jazz, light hip hop, gospel music and balletic movements. Robert Moses also often explores the issues of race, gender, class and other social topics like biographies. Visit the organization’s official website for informatin on upcoming performances, times and venues.

Robert Moses Kin
870 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 252.8384
Official Website: www.robertmoseskin.org
Map & Driving Directions

Hollywood Walk of Fame | Los Angeles, CA

Located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine, the fabled Hollywood Walk of Fame features a star for just about every famous African American film, music and television personality in modern times. Over 120 African Americans have been so honored, including (in alphabetical order):

A – C

Muhammad Ali, Debbie Allen, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Marian Anderson, Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Anita Baker, Count Basie, Harry Belafonte, George Benson, Chuck Berry, Halle Berry, James Brown, LeVar Burton, Mariah  Carey, Diahann Carroll, Benny Carter, Ray Charles, James Cleveland, Natalie Cole, Nat “King” Cole, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Sam Cooke, Don Cornelius, Bill Cosby, Scatman Crothers, Andrae Crouch.

D – G

Destiny’s Child, Dorothy Dandridge, Billy Daniels, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Fats Domino, Earth, Wind & Fire, Billy Eckstine, Duke Ellington, the Fifth Dimension, Stepin’ Fetchit, Ella Fitzgerald, the Four Step Brothers, the Four Tops, Jamie Foxx, Aretha Franklin, Morgan Freeman, Errol Garner, Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, Danny Glover, Berry Gordy, Louis Gossett, Jr.,Robert Guillaume.

H – K

Arsenio Hall, Herbie Hancock, Al Hibbler, the Harlem Globetrotters, Jester Hairston, Lionel Hampton, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Hall, Billie Holiday, Linda Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Lena Horne, Janet Jackson, Mahalia Jackson, Michael Jackson, the Jacksons, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Etta James, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Eartha Kitt, Gladys Knight.

L – R

Patti LaBelle, Cleavon Little, Little Richard, Frankie Lymon, Bob Marley, Larry McCormick, Johnny Mathis, Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Micheaux, the Mills Brothers, Thelonious Monk, Eddie Murphy, Nichelle Nichols, the Nicholas Brothers, Brock Peters, the Pointer Sisters, Sidney Poitier, Charley Pride, Richard Pryor, Queen Latifah, Lou Rawls, Della Reese, Lionel Richie, Chris Rock, Paul Robeson, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross.

S – Z

Isabel Sanford, John Singleton, Wesley Snipes, the Spinners, Donna Summer, the Supremes, the Temptations, Tina Turner, Cicely Tyson, Sarah Vaughan, Dionne Warwick, Forest Whitaker, Billy Dee Williams, Joe Williams, Vanessa Williams, Nancy Wilson and Stevie Wonder.

Upcoming ceremonies in 2008 will include Angela Bassett, among others.

Address: 6299 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Map & Driving Directions
Official Website: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

Pan African Film & Arts Festival, Los Angeles CA

The Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF), in its 17th year, is the nation’s largest black film festival. Established in 1992, PAFF is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression. PAFF’s stated goal is to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. PAFF has an ethos of using film and art to create a better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles. PAFF mission also uses film as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues.

Opening this year’s festival is the acclaimed South African drama “Jerusalema” directed by Ralph Zinman. Part Robin Hood, part Horatio Alger, after cutting his teeth on local carjackings, young Lucky Kunene dreams of bigger scores than his best friend Zakes. Moving to the rough-and-tumble Hillbrow section of Johannesburg, Kunene, whose heroes are Karl Marx, Al Capone and Dale Carnegie, transforms himself into a real-estate crime boss even as he tries to elude determined white cop Blakkie Swart, vengeful renegade Nazareth Mbolelo and Nigerian drug lord Tony Ngu.

The festival’s centerpiece will be “Skin,” starring Sophie Okonedo, based on a true story about a woman who was born to white parents in apartheid South Africa but due to a genetic abnormality appears to have black skin. Tormented and unaccepted by white society though classified as white, she falls in love with a black man and moves to a township, alienating her parents.

In addition, the 17th Pan African Film & Arts Festival will present actress Marla Gibbs with its coveted Lifetime Achievement Award. Actor Omar Benson Miller (“Miracle at St. Anna”) has been selected for the PAFF Canada Lee Award, and California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass will be recognized for her commitment of supporting the exhibition of film, art and creative expression with the PAFF Community Service Award.

As usual, this year’s PAFF will also feature panel discussions, industry workshops and seminars in addition a diverse selection of Black films, including features, shorts, documentaries as well as studio/network releases. Visit the Pan African Film & Arts Festival official website for more information.

[Video Clip: Jerusalema]

[Video Clip: Skin]