Hella Solutions blog: "Document. Share. Inspire."

Music is always an important element in helping to set mood and add contextualization in all audio documentaries but I feel like the music is an especially crucial component in this project. I have three proposed modules which will cover Atlanta, South Africa and then a more ‘abstract’ theoretical analysis of global organizing and I’m trying to fit music to each. My goal is to use the music to associate ‘place’ in each module. While in South Africa I picked up a bunch of discs that nail the sound I’m looking for and it’s called Kwaito. Kwaito is a unique South African blend of house beats, hip hop and South African Culture. It’s a contagious music, lively, youthful, positive and often incorporates social messages through its lyrics. And it also gives me a way to connect “South Africa” with “Atlanta” through shared beats and rhythms while each remains unique. Somewhat of a metaphor, I guess you could say, for the connection of African-Americans and Africans.

Atlanta is often known for its hip-hop, soul and a few ‘folk’ artists. Obviously some big name people like Ray Charles are honored here but I’m looking for slightly more obscure and lesser known groups (i.e. even more so than India Arie – an Atlanta native – although she has actually performed some benefit shows for SisterLove in the past). Anyway, I was introduced to three local ATL groups by an eccletically-knowledgable-music-phile Brother over at Criminal Records in Little Five Points (L5P is one of the most diverse and funky-cool areas in Atlanta…and where I used to live but I digress). The three somewhat disparate discs are: Doria Roberts – a songstress in the vein of Ani DeFranco, Alanis Morissette and with some Laryn Hill tossed in; Donnie – soul with a serious conscious; and Minamina Goodsong – a hip-hop band with old school chops, crazy themes like some old De La Sol and humorous.

I’m happy to say that I think I’m set in-so-far as my ATL music goes…I was a bit worried. Thanks again CR!

Travel tips: screw Avis car rentals. WAY overpriced! I’m not a big pusher of corporations but then when treated well…why not. I’ve been using Enterprise rental cars for most of my travel needs while working on the SisterLove project and they are awesome. The customer service is great (very friendly, quick, and always give me more than I request – i.e. upgrading cars) and their prices are the best I’ve seen. So, in my book the two deserve some kudos as most companies don’t give a shit for the customer these days. And Enterprise is a major sponsor of the PBR (a little known interest of mine heheh). Okay, that’s my push for the evening.

Today was my first day in Atlanta doing my pickups for my project and to my surprise I was able to complete almost ALL of my interviews in one LONG day. I’m quite worried as it all worked so easily . I had allotted about 5 days to do all this. I did about 9 interviews (small interviews with each staff member and a central interview with one of SL’s first clients and one of their main client-turned-advocate. Her interview is to show the empowerment aspect of SL’s work and I’m very pleased with the interview). I’m using the rest of my time here to get some time with board members of SisterLove and one big event that they are sponsoring toward the end of the week.

I’ll also be visiting local music stores to find some strong local (ATL) music to use in the Atlanta module of the project (the South African piece has got some very nice tunes and I’d like to have an equal representation from here).

After watching a few hours of different documentary films on HIV/AIDS I needed a break and what better way then to watch a lot of healthy, naked bodies gathering and challenging public space and drawing attention to issues of body image and censorship (among other issues). You’ve probably seen the work of Tunick (Spencer Tunick) online but he’s the photographer who takes images of interesting public spaces with 100s and sometimes thousands of naked bodies blanketed over the landscape. These places are typically urban and work to challenge how we see nudity and more importantly, how we see ourselves. It’s easy to look at nudity and think “porn” in American culture but this ain’t porn…Anyway, it’s a nice documentary to check out if you want something easy on the eyes and not too deep, yet has some social value. Check it out here.

I learned about this over at my Internet radio mainstay, somafm.com…the music industry is once again trying to raise the fees for web casters. The fee increase would essentially wipe out the genre so that only those with millions of dollars to spare could afford to survive. They’ve already destroyed the airwaves by filling them with utter crap and not allowing any others to use the PUBLIC airwaves…so head on over to this site and send a message to congress! TODAY!

I am heading back to Atlanta for some final audio pick-ups and a key interview I was unable to do when I was there last. It’s a fortunate thing to be able to get back there but considering that I’m supposed to have this project finished late-May to early-June…well, getting new material scares me a bit. But over half of what I’ll be getting will be very specific and will likely be plug-n-play when I get it back home. The interview on the other hand will be a bit of a challenge to organize.

One of the key questions I want to explore are the specific differences between organizing among Black women living with HIV/AIDS and those tactics/techniques used with groups of gay white men. This came up during one of my earlier interviews where it was said that SisterLove found that organizing models that worked in other communities (e.g. gay white men) didn’t necessarily translate straight across into the community they worked in. It is a very interesting issue but also an extremely crucial one in terms of combatting the increasing numbers of cases of HIV/AIDS in the African-American community. I believe SisterLove has many answers and I’d like to include those in this project. STAY TUNED.

But while we’re bringing up gay white men, one of the best film documentaries dealing with HIV/AIDS to date is one called “Silverlake Life: The View From Here.” If you don’t have it you can check it out here!. Seriously, this is crucial viewing on the subject of both HIV/AIDS and documentary studies.

I released a small clip the other week and here is a reworked version. I wasn’t happy with the last one because when put alongside the other content there were some very repetitive components. I’m really enjoying this one as it has Nyrobi (the woman speaking) being a little more ‘serious’ compared to the first clip. Anyway, where I am using this one is in the beginning of the project as I introduce SisterLove — who they are, what they do, etc…This clip actually leads into a full version of a healthy love party where Nyrobi is demonstrating the use of a dental damn. When listening you really get the feeling you are there (well, I was …but you’ll think you were there, too)! So, check this small clip out and feel free to leave comments…actually, I like them so please do .

Click Here to download/listen (mp3 format; 1.68MB)

The folks over at GreenCine.com have a nice little section called “Documentaries Under $8″ that you might want to check out. There are a few selections that are definitely a nice find for that price (e.g. “Chisholm 72: Unbought and Unbossed,” “Election 2000,” “Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?” and others. You can see the whole selection by clicking here…I think I remember posting this before but a good price is worth a reminder