Episode 36 - Emma Francis Snyder - “Pa’lante” & “Que Bonita Bandera”
Photo Credit: Brian Galderisi
[Image Description: Emma is pictured from the torso up against a black background. She has shoulder-length brownish, blonde hair and wears black glasses and red lipstick. She wears a black long-sleeved top.]
In the first full episode of 2022, I chat with the filmmaker and activist Emma Francis-Snyder about her Oscar-shortlisted short Takeover! We talk about her journey as a white person and the obligation to uncover and celebrate these hidden histories and all things Takeover! Including the history of the Young Lords, her many interactions with journalist and Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez. This week’s episode has not one but two songs! The first is the resistance anthem “Pa’lante” by Hurray for the Riff Raff. From 1948 to 1957, flying the Puerto Rican flag was illegal and so was singing patriotic tunes. The second song for this episode, “Que Bonita Bandera” by Pepe Y Flora, directly responded to that bigotry. Here is our conversation, which was recorded in January 2022.
Episode 13 - Denise Hamilton - “We Shall Not Be Moved”
[Image Description: Denise Hamilton is pictured from the torso up. She was an aqua colored button down shirt, tortoise-shell glasses, and a black folded scarf around her head that has white lettering and pink, blue, and yellow graphics. She smiles slightly as her chin rest on her hand.]
In this episode, I speak with educator, filmmaker and former co-chairperson of BADWest: Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers - West, Denise Hamilton, In our conversation we talk about BADWest, her latest doc/interactive project Race Relay, and what it’s like to be educating the next generation of international documentary filmmakers at the New York Film Academy. Because Denise and her family has deep ties to the Black liberation movement that go all the way to Mary McLeod Bethune, the song for this episode is Mavis Staples rendition of the gospel classic, “We Shall Not Be Moved.”