‘Alley Gallery of Loss’ Archives
DanDan- Still Teaching
Remembrance submitted by MARY ELLEN KALUZAI did not know DanDan. I became aware of his existence at the community meeting on September 12th with the Nenookaasi Camp. Residents and supporters of Nenookaasi Camp spoke about DanDan with great affection, clearly grieving his passing. Their sadness filled the room, and opened my eyes to their humanity.DanDan had lived in the Hiawatha camp that was torn down by the State and led to the establishment of Nenookaasi Camp on the 2300 block of 13th Ave. I learned that DanDan had received other housing while living in the Hiawatha camp, but he returned to the camp because he missed his community. He was lonely. The camp residents were his family and friends. He died suddenly on the sweltering day the camp was demolished.While I never met DanDan, I gained vital lessons thanks to his walking this earth. The first is that humans are very good at dehumanizing other humans. It is what allows us to enslave people, conquer people, steal from them, kill [...]
Giga-Waabamin Nee-Gon-We-Way-We-Dun
Neegonwewaywedun “Thunder Before the Storm” A.K.A Clyde Bellecourt, Co-Founder of the American Indian Movement Prominent Indigenous elder to local and nation-wide communities Nee-Gon-We-Way-We-Dun (Thunder Before the Storm in Ojibwe), also known as Clyde Bellecourt (White Earth Nation), passed to the spirit world January 11th, 2022. His dedication and steadfast work for the lives and heritage of Indigenous people worldwide -- fighting against police brutality; establishing and keeping Little Earth of United Tribes; initiating programs for health, education, safety, language, legal rights, cultural heritage, and education; advocating against racist sports names, icons, and mascots; and co-founding the American Indian Movement (AIM) -- was obvious locally and has been chronicled, in part, by the alley newspaper since the paper’s beginning in 1975. The alley newspaper is honored to memorialize him with this excerpt from a New Years reflection by Laura Waterman [...]
Movie Corner: Melvin Van Peebles
He's the ManMelvin Van Peebles (1932-2021) Melvin Van Peebles. Photo by John Matthew Smith By HOWARD McQUITTER II The African American filmmaker-actor Melvin Van Peebles, a fiercely independent filmmaker, could make memorable and remarkable films on a shoestring budget such as the 1971 bombshell film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song about a Black pimp who kills two policemen for beating up a Black militant and how he eludes law enforcement. (His son Mario, is also an actor/director.) And with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, in particular, but in conjunction with his body of work (his directorial debut is Watermelon Man in Hollywood), the man is often known as the "Godfather of Black cinema". (The late Black director Gordon Parks is also a modern pioneer of Black cinema.) Mr. Melvin Van Peebles graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B. A. in 1953. He decided to travel heavily in Europe, Mexico and the United States taking on jobs such as postal worker, painter, [...]
