Arts & Entertainment

Books pg 15 | Film/TV pg 16 | Theater pg 17 | Jazz pg 20

Your Stars

Two Black mystical books to discover

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH

Special to the AmNews

Following the tragic murder of George Floyd, mainstream media began to slowly recognize the erasure of Black experts in media in general, including Black practitioners in modern and Hellenistic astrology and mysticism. Veteran Black astrologers like Sam Reynolds and millennial leaders like Kirah Tabourn, founder of The Strology, Mecca Woods whose horoscopes and articles have been published in Refinery29 and Essence, and Adama Sesay, founder of Lilith Astrology among others, have all been highlighted as bright stars and great resources.

Black mystics, of course, date far back into ancient times in African dynasties. Nonetheless, since the rise of modern mysticism in mainstream popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s, white voices and practitioners have dominated as their knowledge was amplified above all practitioners of color.

Since the 2020s, social media platforms like Instagram have given Black mystics opportunities to expand their audiences and attract clientele in an unprecedented fashion.

Signs & Skymates: The Ultimate Guide to Astrological Compati-

bility (Running Press)

West African astrologer DosséVia Trenou has created a definitive guide for astrological compatibility. “Signs & Skymates” will enlighten readers about their relationships with family, friends and themselves through Via Trenou’s comprehensive style that uses “whole-chart houses” to find compatibility between people’s astrology charts.

Compatibility is found when two people’s birth charts are compared and even overlaid upon one another to find the commonalities, synchronicities, differences and clashes between two people who are in a relationship. The book encourages “readers to expand their ideas about each sign—including the ones in their own chart.” Whether you are very experienced in astrology or just learning, this book will assist you in discovering the nature of your interpersonal connections.

Black Tarot: An Ancestral Awakening Deck and Guidebook

(Hachette Books)

Written by Nyasha Williams and illustrated by Kimishka Naidoo, “Black Tarot” is a new tarot deck that has infused the images of classic tarot figures with African features. Williams has written a guidebook that offers deep mystical interpretations that will help any seeker in search of answers to the mysteries of their lives.

Each card features original illustrations by Naidoo that are beautifully intimate and detailed. Ancestral Illumination: A Guided Journal for Black Tarot is “a stunning companion to ‘Black Tarot: An Ancestral Awakening Deck and Guidebook,’ [which helps] you connect with the divine.”

Black mysticism is a facet of the Black American culture that has gone largely unrecognized. Black spirituality, which has deeply respected roots in the Christian church, can be recognized for its diversity. Astrology and Tarot as ideologies and forms of divination are not religions, but spiritual pathways to self-discovery.

https://dossevia.com; IG: @dossevia

www.nyashawilliams.online; IG: @writingtochangethenarrative

Two books that explore the depth of Black life

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH

Special to the AmNews

The intricate complexities of the Black experience permeates within the cultural and historical layers of America. Black Americans, since the earliest days of the formation of this nation, have strived with grace, vision and aptitude to tell their stories in such a penetratingly vulnerable manner, that the tradition of Black literature has survived and evolved with the birth of each new generation.

The tradition of documenting the reality of Black life through prose, poetry, essays and academic books holds steadfast in this postmodern era. Here are two books that offer a myriad of perspectives from creative Black voices.

Lunar Phoenix: An Anthology

of Black Voices (Quail Bell Press) Lunar Phoenix is an upcoming collection of short stories, poetry and essays by an array of incredible Black writers. One of the 34 authors who have contributed to the book, Jordan A. McCray, describes Lunar Phoenix as a collection that “creates a channel for Black writers to define their experience as “I traverse through each and every space in this world, I know I matter equally in all of them.”

Due for release in September 2022, this book offers readers an opportunity to engage with imaginative, intelligent writers who share their extraordinary gifts. “Steven Van Patten’s dystopian story illustrates the suspenseful mission of a teenager completing his pizza delivery route in a white neighborhood, encountering discrimination, hatred and racial profiling from the moment he passes through its gates and Anita Shaw’s maternal poem reveals the fears and dreams she has for her son, whom she will have to raise painfully aware of prejudice for his own safety, in a world that vilifies their community.”

It is vitally important that the Black community supports such anthologies in order to preserve the literary expression of our artists.

Black Age: Oceanic Lifespans and the Time of Black Life by

Habiba Ibrahim (NYU Press)

Black Age is a poignant book that journeys through the lifespans of the Black body since the emergence of trans-Atlantic slavery. The book “tracks the struggle between the abuses of Black exclusion from Western humanism and the reclamation of non-normative Black life, arguing that, if some of us are brave, it is because we dare to live lives considered incomprehensible within a schema of ‘human time.’”

We as a culture struggle to find a healthy space to understand our relationships with time. The daily struggle to survive in an aggressive cultural landscape robs us of an abundant, and even minimal allotment of freedom to truly selfexamine our place in the world, and our surroundings truly affect us on macro and micro levels.

“Focusing on Black literary culture of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Habiba Ibrahim examines how the history of trans-Atlantic slavery and the constitution of modern Blackness has been reimagined through the embodiment of age.”

Black lives not only to matter, but they are the fabric of American culture. Our stories must become central to the historical lexicon of America if we are to enjoy a future of free thought and safety. These books look inward and offer depth and progression of the Black American existence.

By MARGRIRA

Special to the AmNews

This year’s Toronto Film Festival is full of African, Caribbean, African American, and Afro Canadian star power, and we’ve compiled a list of everything you should have on your radar for TIFF 2022.

Festival premieres include new work by Tyler Perry and Tim Story. We also get to see Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King” starring Oscar winner Viola Davis and documentaries on two, prolific creatives: “Sidney,” directed by Reginald Hudlin, and “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues” directed by Sacha Jenkins.

Here are our picks for films to check out at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival (TIFF).

The Woman King — directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

This epic tale, starring Oscar winner Viola Davis, brings to life the true story of the Agojie, the all-female military regiment charged with protecting the embattled West African Kingdom of Dahomey from adversarial neighbors, European colonizers, and the horrors of the slave trade.

The year is 1823. Orphaned at birth and raised by an abusive guardian who seeks only to marry her off for money, young Nawi (Mbedu) petitions for entry into the Agojie, led by the single-minded Nanisca (Davis). To defend their people against the oppressive and heavily armed Oyo Empire, the Agojie run candidates through an arduous training program. Nawi proves herself an outstanding, ferocious soldier, though she questions the Agojie rules, which state that no one in their ranks shall marry or have children. As the Agojie prepares for the fight of their lives against both the Oyo and the Portuguese slave traders with whom they are in league, long-buried secrets come to light, revealing harrowing stories of personal sacrifice that will only strengthen the bonds between these unstoppable warrior women.

Ashkal — directed by Youssef Chebbi

A series of mysterious deaths in an abandoned development north of Tunis sends two detectives down an all-consuming rabbit hole when workers discover the burnt body of a building watchman onsite and call in police detectives Fatma (Fatma Oussaifi) and Batal (Mohamed Houcine Grayaa) to investigate. ( https://www.tiff. net/events/ashkal ) —

Free Money — directed by Sam Soko and Lauren DeFilippo

When universal basic income (UBI) comes to the Kenyan village of Kogutu, lives are forever changed. The filmmakers juxtapose the story of these young economists, bankrolled by Silicon Valley and convinced that they have found an infallible algorithm to end world poverty, with portraits of local Kenyans whose lives are being dramatically impacted for better and for worse.

A Jazzman’s Blues — directed by Tyler Perry

A story of forbidden love and family secrets that reach from the 1940s to the 1980s. Featuring songs by Terence Blanchard, choreography by Debbie Allen, and music by composer Aaron Zigman. A Jazzman’s Blues is a testament to African American music, resilience, and storytelling.

Black Ice — directed by Hubert Davis

This incisive, urgent documentary examines the history of anti-Black racism in hockey, from the segregated leagues of the 19th century to professional leagues today, where Black athletes continue to struggle against bigotry. Executive produced by LeBron James, Drake, and Maverick Carter.

Brother — directed by Clement Virgo

A staggering adaptation of David Chariand’s award-winning novel about two Trinidadian-Canadian brothers coming of age in 1990s Scarborough, where they reconcile their dreams and expectations with the violence that confronts them around every corner.

Bruiser — directed by Miles Warren

A 14-year-old boy turns to a charismatic loner for help after being beaten up. The directors’ feature debut about fathers, families, and the effects of fighting.

Chevalier — directed by Stephen Williams

An opulent historical drama, inspired by the true story of composer Joseph Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), brims with intrigue, romance, and sumptuous music—turning the spotlight on a brilliant artist whose legacy has been woefully obscured. The film opens with a bang as Bologne interrupts a Paris concert conducted by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and makes a dramatic impression on the preening genius and his fancy, 18th-century audience.

Dear Mama — directed by Allen Hughes

Hughes’ quintessential documentary series explores the life and legacy of hip hop icon Tupac Shakur and his mother, the Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur, exposing audiences to the dark realities of both the mother and son’s complicated relationships with law enforcement, violence, and drug abuse.

On The Come Up — directed by Emmynominated actress Sanaa Lathan

Making her feature directorial debut, this film is a love letter to hip hop as told through the eyes of Bri, a 16-year-old gifted rapper, who attempts to take the battle rap scene by storm in order to lift up her family and do right by the legacy of her father––a local hip hop legend whose career was cut short by gang violence. The film is based on the New York Times No. 1 best-selling novel by Angie Thomas.

Devotion — directed by JD Dillard

Set during the Korean War, this visceral film tells the story of the U.S. Navy’s first African American aviator and his dedicated wingman, pilots who both confront geopolitical uncertainty and racist hostility with uncommon valor.

The King’s Horseman — directed by Biyi Bandele

TIFF dedicates this presentation of “The King’s Horseman” to the memory of Biyi Bandele, (October 1967 – August 2022). The day comes for Elésin Oba (Odunlade Adekola) to accompany the Alaafin of Oyo, King of Yorubaland (contemporary Nigeria, Togo, and Benin), into the afterlife. Celebration is in order! As the King’s Horseman, Elésin is responsible for the political ruler’s smooth travels in life and in death, making this day the long-intended end of his honorable, fleshly commitments to the Yoruba people. Since the Alaafin is dead, Yoruba religious tradition insists Elésin must commit ritual suicide.

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