Soul Cinema Sundays

Slam, April 13, 4 PM, National Poetry Month
Ticket Link Here.

The award-winning (Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival, 1998) movie that put world-renowned poet Saul Williams on the map, was co-directed, co-written, and co-produced by Marc Levin and starring and co-written by Saul Williams and Sonja Sohn. It tells the story of a young African-American poet whose talents are challenged by the struggles of inner-city life.

Malcolm X (Celebrating Malcolm's 100th Bday!)
May 18, 2025, 4 pm 

Malcolm X is an independent epic biographical drama about the African-American leader and activist Malcolm X. Directed and co-written by Spike Lee, the film stars Denzel Washington,  Angela Bassett, Al Freeman Jr., Theresa Randle, Lonette McKee, and Delroy Lindo. Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, Rev. Al Sharpton, and future South African president Nelson Mandela make cameo appearances. 

The screenplay, co-credited to Lee and Arnold Perl, is based largely on Alex Haley's 1965 book The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Haley had collaborated with Malcolm X on the book beginning in 1963 and completed it after Malcolm X's death. The film dramatizes key events in Malcolm X's life: his criminal career, his incarceration, his conversion to Islam, his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his later falling out with the organization, his marriage to Betty X, his pilgrimage to Mecca and reevaluation of his views concerning whites, and his assassination in 1965.

Wattstax, National Black Music Month
June 8, 2025, 4 PM, Ticket Link Here

“Wattstax” was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the 1965 “Watts Riots” (or Watts Rebellion) in the black community of Watts in Los Angeles, reportedly ignited by an act of police brutality. This year is the Watts Rebellion’s 60th anniversary.  The film was directed by Mel Stuart (Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory) and nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Documentary in 1974. The documentary includes performances by prominent Stax artists like The Staple Singers, Rance Allen, The Bar-Kays, Rufus Thomas, The Emotions, Isaac Hayes, and more... Interview segments in the film feature everyday black Los Angelenos and actors like Ted Lange and comedian Richard Pryor speaking about the political issues impacting the black community that are still relevant decades later. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”  As this film speaks to the power of black music to address the issues of the present day, Kalonji Changa of Black Power Media will speak with Public Enemy’s Minister of Information, Professor Griff about how black music can once again be used to serve the needs of the people.