Spencer Williams, Jr. was the only black director who received frequent commissions from white moguls to make films during the race movie era. Williams was a big, boisterous actor-singer best known for playing Andy Brown in the early-50s TV series Amos 'n' Andy. In early-talkies Hollywood he had worked as an actor, a sound technician and a screenwriter on low-budget or indie films. In 1940 he was hired by Dallas exhibitor Al Sack to write and direct films, apparently with a minimum of front-office interference. He made nine or ten of them: oddball melodramas (Girl in Room 20), low-octane jive musicals (Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A., Juke Joint) and a trio of religious epics: The Blood of Jesus, Go Down, Death and Of One Blood.
… 1941's The Blood of Jesus, has a naive grandeur to match its subject. A morality play about an angel and a devil fighting for a woman's soul, it begins with a baptism and ends in bloody death near a cross — all scored to rousing gospel music. Told in a spare style with no hokum, the movie has the feeling of an honest, unmediated religious experience. For decades, this and other Williams films were thought lost, but in the mid-80s prints were discovered in a Tyler, Texas warehouse. And so 50 years after its making, Jesus was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Registry of Films.
Rocky gifted me with a video of this important American film which we viewed before devotions last Thursday. Here are a few images taken while it was bein shown on our TV, complete with commentary by the "audience," to convey it's flavor. -gw
Corinne is a radiant soul who participated on a Baha'i teaching team visiting the homes of Lakewood residents on Saturday, then joining the prayer team on Sunday. We are so grateful for her service.
Before being whisked off to a visit to Tacoma's Glass Museum with "Auntie" Martha and "Uncle" Norm, while the rest of us girded up our loins for Day Two of our intensive on Sunday, Liam occupied himself by practicing his eye-hand coordination at his mother Lisa's feet. -gw
More photos from Day Two of Lakewood's IPG are here. gw
When any souls grow to be true believers, they will attain a spiritual relationship with one another, and show forth a tenderness which is not of this world. They will, all of them, become elated from a draught of divine love, and that union of theirs, that connection, will also abide forever. Souls, that is, who will consign their own selves to oblivion, strip from themselves the defects of humankind, and unchain themselves from human bondage, will beyond any doubt be illumined with the heavenly splendours of oneness, and will all attain unto real union in the world that dieth not.
Thanks to my bro-in-law Frank for this. A little mid-winter humor. 1,177,024 YouTube viewers (so far), so it’s not like we are exactly ahead of the curve by reposting this here. -gw
What music are you listening to there days? How many of the musicians producing the music are Baha'i? Are those musicians still producing music for sale? Do you ever wonder in the case of an artist, will there ever be another album to enjoy?
If the musician is a Baha'i, there is an immediate advantage. The Baha'i community.
Last week I listened to Steve Shere on KUOW FM, the Seattle NPR affiliate, in a discussion about "How To Make Money At Music" The programis up on the KUOW website and available as a podcast. -gw
Industry analysts and executives have bemoaned the imminent death of the music industry ever since the birth of the Internet. In reality it's only the record business that's in peril. Album sales once built musical empires. Now touring is the cornerstone of an artist's financial success. Bands who make the road their home are not just insulated from the drop in record sales — they can be profitable! How can you succeed in the modern music industry? Tune in to find out.
As we were leaving our Book 8 session last time Mrs. J was saying how she wants to keep her Wednesday night fireside, held since 1967, going after she dies and somebody was saying how the LSA is looking into that and I was thinking how nobody, not if there were a million applicants could ever fill this woman's shoes in our lifetime and I was thinking what somebody should do, somebody with a camcorder that is, is to record what she has to say and put her on YouTube so that her beloved fireside could continue on forever in Cyberspace and then maybe somebody will run across the Baha'i Faith through her unique testimony the same way I ran across Odetta who showed me what a blues singer can do with House of the Rising Sun. In my dreams …
FeedTacoma.com is a free community focused and supported resource for those that live in and/or love Tacoma.
This website combines the thoughtful commentary and insight of a handful of Tacomans who want to spread the good word about this great town. Life here can be rich and fulfilling so we encourage living it through group meet-ups and info about things to see, eat, and do in Tacoma.
What's with the name? Currently, the site's content is based on snippets or "feeds" from contributing websites. These feeds are pulling Tacoma-related stuff only and, while we were messing around testing, was a working title that stuck. It also represents the action of "feeding" folks info about this area and why it's a vibrant and comfortable place to live, work, and play.
Content of this blog is autoposted from
Posterous (Baha'i Views & Baha'i Music). Also carrying this mirrored content is Baha'i Views (on Blogger). The email for all of these sites is: bahaiviews@gmail.com. None of these blogs constitute official sites of the Baha'i Faith. For authoritative material about the Baha'i Faith go to: http://bahai.org/ or http://bahai.us/. George Wesley Dannells
