Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Stanley Nelson One-Question Interview

All Images Courtesy of Firelight Media/DKC
         
       “Another Side of Cool through the Aura of Miles Davis”  

In Part II of this Miles Davis feature, I interview filmmaker, Stanley Nelson Jr., as my premiere guest for Interiors' One-Question Interview series.





Having achieved numerous honors as a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow – receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, to the National Medal in the Humanities and Emmys for his films on race relations – Nelson’s latest work, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, explores the life and music of Miles Davis, while touching on the infamous “Miles Mystique,” which offered an opportunity to engage a brief discussion on how Miles “demarginalized” his blackness into an imitable aesthetic.

Interiors of Man: Through your film, viewers learn where “the cool” originated in Miles, finding his voice apart from the bebop legends he admired and developing a cool jazz sound early on.  That was one part of the Miles mystique, but the other, most important element was the confidence and respect he had for his dark, black skin – tapping into the under layers of his complexion and exuding a regal presence.

How did this racial maneuvering and confidence equally contribute to Miles Davis’ success?

Stanley Nelson:  Miles understood the optics of being a dark-skinned Black man. His confidence was unshakeable. He understood that having pride in his skin, in how he dressed, in how he carried himself, sent a message to his fans, and to the music industry. He was aware of the message his image was sending, and it influenced many of his decisions, including the mandate to put images of himself, his wives, and other Black bodies on his album covers.

Miles Davis was unapologetically Black, back at a time when that could have been a career-ending posture and years before it was chic.



For additional interviews and more on Stanley Nelson, visit The Miles Davis Movie/Press and Firelight Media.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Links to Excellence – The Second Birth


Courtesy of Firelight Media

Acclaimed filmmaker, Stanley Nelson, adds to the history of jazz in this Firelight presentation, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, named after Davis’ original compilation album released in 1957.


Wednesday, August 28, 2019


“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”


                                                                                  – Thomas A. Edison
                                                                                                                                                       

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

The Deculturalization of Love


The introduction to bell hooks’ 2001 national bestseller, Salvation – Black People and Love, contains a disturbing belief she uncovered while lecturing in the public schools during her tour for a previous book, and hearing a number of young black people proclaiming, “there is no such thing as love.”

I was drawn to this book in reading its introduction, powerfully entitled, Love is our Hope, and then seized by the disheartening belief these young people have towards love.  

What’s more disheartening is that today, (twenty years later since hooks discovered this nihilistic attitude) it’s easy to understand the cynicism, hearing the profane anger and frustrations coming from young people who are growing up in hostile environments where the absence of affection is replaced by verbal attacks on the state of the family-dynamic.

The elegance of Salvation, is hooks’ solution and urgency to restore the “love-ethic” where it may be absent. This nurturing custom, grounded in spiritual guidance is what has built strong communities, families, and young who grew into respectful adults – a nurturing custom that has been dismantled by broken homes where childrearing is replaced with rage caused by hardships that turn the focus on self, amidst emotional neglect that makes love invisible when not modeled before the young or afforded the agency to be modeled, living in brokenness that has no oxygen for the act. 

The deculturalization of the word, beaten down by shame, impoverishment, fear, vulnerabilities, and the myth that it subverts strength in the face of weakness has paralyzed some from moving into its embrace.

For love to be our hope, regardless of race, it needs to be modeled through simple acts as brave professions, healing language … and the “reculturalization” of affectionate music, anthems, and conversations that soothe the soul.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Links to Excellence – A Legend to See



Toni Morrison and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders  TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM, a Magnolia Pictures release. 
© Timothy Greenfield-Sanders / Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures


Director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders brings to us Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, a documentary on the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and her paths to an extraordinary career with comments from Ms. Morrison and other luminaries.

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Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Beyond the Bed of Nola Darling


The most prolific feelings are what holds our attention and form our convictions beyond physical encounters, seizing us to awaken to the world around us and taking courageous steps to become greater human beings. 

This is what I observed in Season 1 of the She’s Gotta Have It Netflix series, which compelled me to interview one of its lead-female writers, Radha Blank, who talks extensively about her journey to the SGHI writers’ table, and what we can expect for Season 2, starting May 24.

Saturday, March 9, 2019


                        “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. …”
 
                                                                                   – Helen Keller                  

Friday, February 1, 2019

An Essential Love Story

Photo Credit: Tatum Mangus/Annapurna Pictures

When beginning The Interiors of Man six years ago, I acknowledged James Baldwin as a possible muse, having read his works over the years and living with the constructs of his voice, talent, and ability to express humanity in various measures.

Among the novels Baldwin has written, If Beale Street Could Talk was a quiet gem with cultural relevance, addressing the incarceration epidemic and inadvertently addressing the state of black love as it stands today in comparison to the past.

As the first director to bring Baldwin’s words to film, Barry Jenkins has unveiled an image of black love that is drowning amidst intra-racial violence, crime, and cultural assaults within the black community.  Through Baldwin, Jenkins has turned a lens on sacred, loving relationships that steer from a fantasy-aesthetic to one that’s organically rooted in community struggle and family solidarity. 

If Baldwin were alive, I’m sure he would not be alarmed by the current state of “the village,” having had the insight to foresee its future.  The nurturing love he sowed in this novel through family unity and sacrifice is the underlying message, which needs tending.  A community cannot survive without love for one’s community, and without human love the village will perish.


Monday, January 21, 2019


“We must not give ourselves to those sayings which will not solve our problems.”

                                                                                                          – Martin Luther King Jr.