Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 is the 48th anniversary of Black Solidarity Day. Founded in 1969, by Dr. Carlos E. Russell, it derives from the play “Day of Absence” by Douglas Turner Ward. The play was based on the social, political and economic consequences that would ensue if all Black people were to disappear for one day. Historically, every Monday before Election Day, Black people do not attend work or school and do not shop.
On Black Solidarity Day, Black people gather to discuss their political and economic strategy and tactics to determine which way forward in our development. The December 12th Movement and community activists in Brooklyn are organizing against gentrification and they will host a film festival and a Black Power program at Sistas’ Place at 456 Nostrand Ave., in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The films and discussion are as follows:
1 p.m.—“Concerning Violence” looks at the daring struggle for liberation in the Third World through the text of Dr. Frantz Fanon and is narrated by Lauryn Hill.
3 p.m.—“I Am Not Your Negro” is a documentary film based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript “Remember This House,” directed by Raoul Peck and narrated by Samuel L. Jackson.
7 p.m.—Black Power program and open discussion. The program will begin with an evening film showing of “Concerning Violence.”
“The fact is, gentrification is ethnic cleansing, and ethnic cleansing is a crime,” explained Kamau Brown. “Recapturing our history is a foundation for Black unity against ethnic cleansing of Black communities in New York and across the nation.”
For more information, contact the December 12th Movement at 718-398-1766 or D12M.com.