‘Alley Gallery of Loss’ Archives
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, [...]
Have You Heard the One About…
By Patrick Cabello Hansel A lawyer, a pastor and a saxophone player walked into”¦a cemetery? What”™s the punchline? You”™ll have to come to “QUITTING TIME at a Place of Endless Time,” on Saturday, September 18th at 4 pm at the historic Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery at East Lake Street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. Patrick Cabello Hansel”™s 2nd book of poetry, “Quitting Time,” is an extended elegy to his father, Walter Hansel. It engages his history from his birth into a German-speaking home in rural North Dakota, through the Great Depression, World War II, and becoming a barber and raising a family in Austin, MN. Patrick retired in 2020 after serving with his wife Luisa for 15 years at St. Paul”™s Lutheran Church in Phillips. He is the author of the poetry collection “The Devouring Land,” and his work has been published in over 70 journals. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, he has [...]
In The Heart of the Beast Theatre Update
BOARD UPDATE AUGUST 12 2021In 2021, HOBT has been working to restart our organization and adapt to the impacts of COVID-19. We considered every path forward that would put us in the best possible position to live out our mission and carry the important work of the MayDay Council into the future.In conversation and with the input of HOBT staff and the MayDay Council, the HOBT Board of Directors has voted to sell the Avalon Theatre, our home since 1988.It”™s time to find a new, smaller home that will allow us to live into our vision of a decentralized MayDay. That includes moving into a new space that is more sustainable and accessible.HOBT is also in the process of moving out of our puppet storage warehouse, which was rented to store the thousands of puppets in HOBT”™s collection.The puppets will return to the artists that created them, museums who can house them (both locally and nationally), and HOBT will be maintaining a smaller collection to carry our work [...]
