Saturday, February 22, 7-10pm
Church for All People, 946 Parsons Ave.
We're celebrating Black History Month with a reading of Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," adapted by Lydia R. Diamond!

One of the top ways to celebrate Black History Month - and the movie going experience in general - is to attend the Los Angeles-based 28th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival. PAFF focuses on Black-themed films, ranging from studio pictures to indie productions, with works from Hollywood, the USA, Mother Africa, the Caribbean, Melanesia (the Black South Pacific Islands, such as Fiji), Australia (this fest remembers that Down Under’s indigenous people, the Aborigines, are also Black) and beyond. The features, documentaries, shorts, animated pictures, etc., from Africa and the Black Diaspora provide movie fans an opportunity to see independent and international films in the world’s entertainment capital that Angelenos may otherwise never get an opportunity to view. This yearly cultural gemstone includes workshops and panels presented by the PAFF Institute, plus an ArtFest centered at Cinemark’s Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza and the adjoining shopping complex.

[NOTE: This review may contain plot spoilers for those unfamiliar with this 2,600 myth.]

LA Opera’s world premiere of composer Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl’s sublime Eurydice is an optically and aurally stunning reinterpretation of the ancient Greek myth about Orpheus (Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins) and the title character (depicted by Angeleno soprano Danielle de Niese and at the performance I experienced, by Rhode Island soprano Erica Petrocelli). Like Romeo and Juliet - consider that Shakespeare’s tragedy inspired the beloved stage and screen adaptations of West Side Story in 1957 and 1961, with a new iteration opening on Broadway this week, with a Steven Spielberg movie remake waiting in the wings - there have been many versions of this immortal romance derived from Grecian mythology.

Thursday, February 20, 2020, 7:00 PM
Emily Dunlap will provide an in-depth discussion on human trafficking and how we can get involved.  Emily an attorney with Advocating Opportunity and she works with trafficking victims.  Michael Smalz will present an update on legislation at the State House affecting immigrants.  The Immigration Justice Committee is responsible for advancing the immigrant rights mission of the organization by proposing projects, policy statements, and inter-organizational relationships to the board for approval, and for providing ongoing up-to-date information about opportunities for COWC. We will be discussing the Wage Theft Clinic and Immigrant Stories Project.  Location:  Maynard Avenue United Methodist Church, 2350 Indianola Ave.  Facebook.  

BANGKOK, Thailand -- More than 5,000 U.S. troops begin training
Thailand's military on February 22, coinciding with demands for the
army's chief to resign and alleged financial corruption within the
military be investigated after an army officer massacred 29 people in
a shopping mall.

Dramatically weeping during a televised news conference, Army Chief
Gen. Apirat Kongsompong said on February 11, "Don't blame the army"
for Sgt. Jakrapanth Tomma's 17-hour rampage in Korat, a northeast city
also known as Nakorn Ratchasima.

"Blame me, General Apirat."

Sgt. Jakrapanth's bloody spree ended on February 9 when security
forces shot him dead in the mall after he killed 29 people.

"Throughout the whole incident, there were only criticisms of the
army. I want you to know that the army is a national security
organization, a sacred organization," Gen. Apirat said.

Gen. Apirat's use of the Thai word "saksit," which means "sacred,"
angered critics.

"He used the Thai word 'saksit', the supernatural powers that demand