We had a great time discovering some more of my great grandfather’s music at a Crossing Borders Ensemble concert last month. You can watch videos of two songs we performed: A Mother To Her Son and The Tyger (the latter is set to the words of the famous William Blake poem). Carolina Gomez is such a talented singer and Johanna Ortegon’s accompaniment on piano is wonderful as well.
I was so excited that a bunch of people who subscribe to this email list were able to make it, it was fun to catch up! I hope to bring more of this musical time capsule to life soon.
Come see my Bronzeville documentary film?
If you’re in Chicago I’d love to see you at an upcoming free screening of my affordable homeownership documentary Blueprint for Bronzeville. The film is about a group of ordinary citizens working to make their community a better place, against all odds.
The Chicago Public Library is hosting two free screenings soon:
- Friday, June 29 @ 2pm – Bessie Coleman Branch (map)
- Wednesday, July 11 @ 5:30pm – Legler Branch (map)
I’ll be at both events along with my fellow producer Tristan Hanson and members from the group that we profiled in the film. It should be fun.
My mom screened the opera documentary!
My mom, Susan (in yellow above) who you may recognize from my long lost opera documentary screened the film for her swim buddies in my hometown in New Hampshire this past month! It apparently sparked a great discussion about family history afterward. How fun.
If you’d like to share the film with your family, it’s available on DVD and online streaming here. Every time I mention this somebody grabs a copy. (Are you that somebody this time?)
My video essay of the month
I can’t believe it’s already summer! And that means I’m almost halfway through the video-a-month challenge I’ve given myself this year. In the latest video essay I made, I deconstructed 5 sketchy marketing phrases that should make you instantly skeptical whenever you see them in an advertisement. It’s an exercise in critical thinking, please watch it here!
My earlier videos:
January: Shouldn’t we ban this type of commercial?
February: Why I changed my mind about illegal immigration
March: How to make $1 million (if you’re young)
April: What Caused the Great Recession? Explained in 3 Minutes
If you got something out of these video essays, please share them. They’re designed to be passed around.
Lastly, One Cool ThingTM
This is a new section in my newsletter where I’m sharing a neat link I found on the internet.
This month I actually want to plug a new project featuring the work of my wonderfully talented wife Tiffany Wilson (who some of you might recognize from my opera documentary!). She has written a great science fiction story called One Shot that has been selected to appear in a new anthology: If This Goes On (back the Kickstarter at that link – it ends this Thursday). It’s a collection of short stories that postulates what the future might look like if this strange moment in American political history continues.