On another political note...last night I saw Call + Response, a documentary about the current slave trade epidemic and the response of people and musicians to the call for its end. It was directed and produced by musician Justin Dillon and featured such notable indie acts as Moby, Cold War Kids, Natasha Bedingfield, Imogen Heap and The Scrolls (featuring Sara and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek). For my money, though, the most compelling musical performances came from Jewish reggae-rapper Matisyahu and hip-hop artist Emmauel Jal, who had been enslaved and trained as a child soldier in Sudan. Although there are many smart, informed people in the film, Dr. Cornel West was, as usual, the most entertaining and eloquent. My favorite bit of his was his take on funk music.
In short, Call + Response is a pretty engaging documentary that accomplishes its mission--to inform the world about the slave trade going on all over the world, even here in the U.S. Definitely worth watching.
For some reason, the film is not showing in New York (sorry, Matt!), but it is showing in Minneapolis, Portland and other cities across the country...To find out where you can see it, click here.
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