Thursday, December 27, 2007

Jonesin' for a Kwanzaa Movie ?

Believing that someone's been jonesin' for a Kwanzaa movie, Boston-based independent filmmakers Jibril Haynes and Nicole D. Parker released their new production "Kwanzaa with the Jones's".

The Boston Globe says,

"The film tells the story of a wealthy, and apparently flourishing, African-American family in the suburbs. Each member, though, has issues that set him or her apart from the others, and the family is largely ignorant about its heritage. A friendly spirit comes to the father in a dream, showing him how the seven principles of Kwanzaa can help him to better nurture his family."

I wonder if Deborah Jones celebrates Kwanzaa or how she will receive the movie.
Kwanzaa is the invention of Maulana Karenga.Karenga, also known as Ron Everett was once convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment.

According to an article in The Dartmouth Review, 

"On September 17, 1971, Karenga was sentenced to one to ten years in prison on counts of felonious assault and false imprisonment. The charges stemmed from a May 9, 1970 incident in which Karenga and two others tortured two women who Karenga believed had tried to kill him by placing 'crystals' in his food and water.
A year later the Los Angeles Times described the events: 'Deborah Jones, who once was given the title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vice. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said.'"

Of the trial, the same article goes on,

".... shooting at UCLA caused Karenga to become deeply paranoid and spurred his bizarre behavior. At his trial, the question of Karenga's sanity arose. The psychiatrist's report stated, 'This man now represents a picture which can be considered both paranoid and schizophrenic with hallucinations and delusions, inappropriate affect, disorganization, and impaired contact with the environment.' The psychiatrist observed that Karenga talked to his blanket and imaginary persons and believed that he had been attacked by dive-bombers."

Happy Kwanzaa.

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