Station Nightclub Fire Documentary
There is a documentary film project under way about the Station Nightclub fire of February 20, 2003. In 2010, Paul Lonardo helped Gina Russo write a book called From the Ashes about the loss of her fiancé, and of her survival from the fire. Local documentary filmmaker David Bettencourt is working on adapting and expanding Gina’s story for [...]
38 Studios, Kingdoms of Amalur, and Economic Development
Everyone is certain to remember the controversy surrounding the 38 Studios $75 million loan guarantee deal. I, for one, was concerned about the tepid clawback provisions in the deal that would let 38 Studios off with a $400,000 fine if it didn’t create 400 jobs in the state. In any case, Kingdoms of Amalur was released [...]
Feb 9: Art from the Heart Benefit Event
Mark your calendars for the 6th Annual “From the Heart” Art Show to support McAuley House, a Providence-based organization that serves those who are homeless and struggling. The event will be held on Thursday, February 9th from 5pm to 7:30pm at McAuley House located at 622 Elmwood Ave., Providence. This event is free and open [...]
Providence Children’s Film Festival 2012: Feb 16-21
The Providence Children’s Film Festival was founded in 2009 to bring high quality, independent and international children’s films, animation, and documentaries to New England, and to present them as shared theatrical experiences for the community. Programming includes live action, animation and documentaries, shorts and features, and films made by RI youth, including the films made in our [...]
Imagination, Collective Struggle, and the Inclusion of Artists and Ordinary People: Angela Davis Speaks at RISD in Providence
PROVIDENCE, RI – Click on the image above to hear a short podcast with Dr. Angela Davis. It is from a brief interview I conducted with her after a keynote address she gave on Monday, June 23, 2012 at Rhode Island School of Design. More information about her talk is below; in the podcast/interview, I [...]
Additional Thoughts on the Cranston Prayer Banner
After reading the comments regarding the prayer banner in Cranston, I would like to add a few comments. To begin: any sentence that contains “the founding fathers believed/thought/said/wanted/intended/were, etc is necessarily wrong. Yes. wrong. The founding fathers were not a monolithic bunch. Exactly the opposite. They were a group of men, many of whom had [...]
Understanding The Intersection of Race, Music and Politics
(RHODE ISLAND, MASSACHUSETTS) – If I were to describe some of the events I have coming up as political, I’m sure someone would ask me, “hey Reza, what is political about an event featuring spoken word poetry and world rhythms?” This is the type of question I love to answer, though, sadly, few seem to [...]
PODCAST: Brian Hull and Reza Rites Discuss the New RIFuture, January 11, 2012 Archive
by Reza Rites / Venus Sings Click here to listen to a podcast of Brian Hull talking to me, Reza Clifton, (Reza Rites / Venus Sings) on Sonic Watermelons, a show I produce weekly on Brown Student and Community Radio (www.bsrlive.com). (PROVIDENCE, RI) RIFuture.org, which was once RI’s number 1 political blog, has relaunched and re-entered [...]
A YouthBuild Providence Classroom Update
I want to thank you for your ongoing support of and commitment to teaching and learning opportunities for all of Providence’s residents. And I invite you to learn more about YouthBuild Providence and ask that you lend your vision to our pioneering educational program for out of school youth as we transition toward a diploma [...]
Have You Seen the New Freedom From Religion Foundation Billboard?
The Madison, WI-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has put up a 14 by 48 foot billboard on Interstate 295 at Route 2 in Warwick. This is the first billboard by the organization in Rhode Island, but the 695th in 61 cities since 2007. Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation co-president, said it’s fitting that the campaign has expanded [...]
Nov. 17: YouthBuild Providence – Picture A School
Join YouthBuild Providence at their first annual Meet and Greet – “Picture A School @ Gallery Z” - on Thursday, November 17th, from 5-8pm at Gallery Z, 259 Atwells Avenue, Providence, RI. This event is to benefit YouthBuild Providence, a fantastic organization that helps out-of-school youth gain the academic, job readiness, and work skills necessary to make [...]
Hegemony of Narrative: “The Help” as Freedom Myth
“Naiveté is often an excuse for those who exercise power. For those upon whom that power is exercised, naiveté is always a mistake.” ~Michel-Rolph Trouillot “Ideology is a representation of the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.” ~ Althusser What is required for an empire to maintain the subjugation, if not [...]
Erica’s New Book On The Wisconsin Fight
Many of you know Erica Sagrans from her time in Providence as a student and activist. This month she’s self-publishing an awesome new book about the labor fight in Wisconsin: In February of 2011, the people of Wisconsin changed the political landscape in America overnight. In response to their Republican governor’s move to strip workers [...]
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