"The Ghosts of March 21" discussions at La Pena and Qilombo, March 2014: photos & audio

by Dave Id

Sun, Apr 20, 2014 4:44PM

Lovelle Mixon and four Oakland police officers were killed by gunfire on March 21, 2009. A fifth OPD officer, Patrick Gonzales, was injured. "The Ghosts of March 21" is a 29-minute documentary which examines the events of that day. The film is largely based on new interviews, never-before-seen footage from East Oakland resident Damon Hooker, and the findings of the December 2009 Independent Board of Inquiry into the Oakland Police Department’s response to the incident (PDF below). Director Sam Stoker acknowledged at a local screening that the documentary was influenced thematically by the 1940 novel Native Son and aesthetically and politically by Third Cinema of the 1960s and 70s. (Full audio of discussions from the La Pena and Qilombo screenings below.)

[Photo: Sam Stoker, director of The Ghosts of March 21, at La Pena]

The film premiered in screenings across the Bay Area in late March and early April 2014 -- in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, and at the 12th Oakland International Film Festival. Discussions were held after several of the screenings. At La Pena in Berkeley on March 20, a discussion which included members of Lovelle Mixon’s family followed the movie. At Qilombo on March 21, the fifth anniversary of the shootings, the film was discussed amongst audience members afterward.

The La Pena and Qilombo events opened with the screening of segments from the 2009 documentary film "Operation Small Axe".

For more information:

The Ghosts Of March 21: Documentary About Lovelle Mixon Challenges Mainstream Narrative
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/03/17/18752726.php

Film trailer
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/03/17/18752714.php#18752715

The Ghosts of March 21 website
http://www.theghostsofmarch21.org

Five Die After Reported Gunfire Between Lovelle Mixon and Oakland Police (3/21/09)
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/22/18580641.php

For more information: https://www.indybay.org/oscargrant

§Full audio of La Pena screening discussion, March 20

by Dave Id

Sun, Apr 20, 2014 4:44PM

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(audio 50:01)

Speaking in the La Pena discussion were JR Valrey of Block Report Radio, director Sam Stoker, uncle Curtis Mixon, sister Renee Mixon, Lovell’s step-grandfather, Gerald Sanders, step-aunt Teneshia Mixon, and more.

§Full audio of Qilombo screening discussion, March 21

by Dave Id

Sun, Apr 20, 2014 4:44PM

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(audio 31:47)

Speaking in the Qilombo discussion were JR Valrey, Black Panther Melvin Dickson, playwright Ayodele Nzinga, Oscar Grant’s uncle Cephus Johnson, Beatrice X, Hannibal Shakur, and more.

§JR Valrey at La Pena

by Dave Id

Sun, Apr 20, 2014 4:44PM