President Lyons of CSUDH welcomes audience
sharon with drawing at event
lgbt fac and staff assoc. sponsored event
sharon with tomas tamayo
lui amador leading discussion
Monday, March 06, 2006
Diana Ossana at CSUDH: pics from Brokeback Mountain Event on campus
President Lyons of CSUDH welcomes audiencesharon with drawing at eventlgbt fac and staff assoc. sponsored eventsharon with tomas tamayolui amador leading discussion
Friday, February 17, 2006
TransAmerica: Felicity Huffman is superb.
Felicity Huffman is superb in the movie TransAmerica. All the actors are good and the movie is able to carry off a serious topic with humor. TransAmerica is a story about a not so young person who started out life as Stanley and is now calling herself Bree. Bree gets a call about her biological son and ends up bailing him out of jail played very successfully by Kevin Zegers.
They both end up taking a trip across America with the intent of finding a place for the son who doesn't know he is Bree's son. Bree gives the young man age 17 the impression that she is a Christian do-gooder just helping him out. It is a very funny device as Bree's character is in some ways tentative rather than devout, intelligent and curious rather than zealous. Bree is also depicted as feminine and precise bordering on fussy. She is afraid of snakes and doesn't like camping out which they are forced to do on at least one occasion. Meeting Bree's parents and her cynical sister is a highlight of the movie.
My feeling for TransAmerica is that it is delivered without sentimentality yet I experienced the entire movie in a very heartwarming way. Insight into the struggle of Transexuals is evident without hitting the moviegoer over the head with a hammer. I enjoyed the film immensely. Bree became a very real person to me. I feel she is out there somewhere living a good life, another person I know who I really respect and like. Kudos to all involved in the making of this film. Felicity Huffman definitely should win Oscar's Best Actress. I applaud and salute Bill Macy, Huffman's husband, for producing the film. Thank you.
Sharon Raphael
They both end up taking a trip across America with the intent of finding a place for the son who doesn't know he is Bree's son. Bree gives the young man age 17 the impression that she is a Christian do-gooder just helping him out. It is a very funny device as Bree's character is in some ways tentative rather than devout, intelligent and curious rather than zealous. Bree is also depicted as feminine and precise bordering on fussy. She is afraid of snakes and doesn't like camping out which they are forced to do on at least one occasion. Meeting Bree's parents and her cynical sister is a highlight of the movie.
My feeling for TransAmerica is that it is delivered without sentimentality yet I experienced the entire movie in a very heartwarming way. Insight into the struggle of Transexuals is evident without hitting the moviegoer over the head with a hammer. I enjoyed the film immensely. Bree became a very real person to me. I feel she is out there somewhere living a good life, another person I know who I really respect and like. Kudos to all involved in the making of this film. Felicity Huffman definitely should win Oscar's Best Actress. I applaud and salute Bill Macy, Huffman's husband, for producing the film. Thank you.
Sharon Raphael
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Brokeback Mountain Event with Diana Ossana on Campus at CSUDH, Carson Ca.
Advertisement for Event my LGBT Faculty and Staff Group is sponsoring on my campus located in Los Angeles, County in Carson, California. Event is free. Parking is 3 dollars.
CSU Dominguez Hills Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Faculty and Staff Association Presents:
Is the success of Brokeback Mountain a sign of the times?
A dialogue with guest speaker and Academy Award Nominated Screenwriter/producer,
Diana Ossana.
Ms. Ossana will speak about her experiences in getting
Brokeback Mountain to the big screen.
When: Friday, March 3, 2006, 1-2:30 p.m.
Where: Claudia Hampton Lecture Hall, Welch Hall
Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry co-wrote the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. Ossana and McMurtry won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. Ossana was also a producer for the film.
"A close friend of mine said to me once that people are mainly motivated by two emotions: fear and love...[Writing the script for] Brokeback Mountain was not a labor of love for most of us; it was a labor of great passion and belief." "Heath [Ledger] was asked by an interviewer recently if he felt brave taking on the role of Ennis. He replied, "Brave? Firefighters and policemen are brave. I’m just an actor, getting paid to act. I feel lucky to be involved with this project.” ---Diana Ossana, Advocate, January 2006
Co-Sponsors for this event are the College of Health and Human Services, the MultiCultural Center (MCC), the Office of Student Life, the Women's Resource Center & the Institute for the Study of Diversity and Internationalization. For more information please email: ttamayo@csudh.edu, vprice@csudh.edu or sraphael@csudh.edu.
Directions to the FREE LGBT event: Claudia Hampton Auditorium is on the first floor of Welch Hall (right across from the small food store), at CSU Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria St. in Carson, 90747. It's freeway close-- Avalon Blvd exit off the 91 freeway, 190th St. Exit off the 405. Look for the Home Depot Center on Victoria St. and turn right onto Tamcliffe Drive.. The parking lot is right near Welch Hall. Yellow kiosks tastefully located on the perimeter of the parking lot sell permits; parking for non-CSUDH folks is $3.00. Go to http://www.csudh.edu/site/VisitUs/DrivingDirections.asp for detailed directions and map. Main campus number: (310) 243-3696
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Reactions to Memorial Service for Coretta Scott King
I spent a good part of the day watching the televised memorial service for Coretta Scott King, widow of the slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King. I guess I could say I was a King groupie of sorts in the sixties as I went to hear him speak whenever he came to Cleveland, Ohio where I lived. I also attended the 1963 March on Washington. It was a marvelous time to be alive. I also have visited the Center for Social Change in Atlanta where Martin Luther King lies in repose on a small raised platform surrounded by water. Coretta's life has been dedicated to keeping King's spirit and legacy alive all these years. Mrs. King it appears was also responsible in so many ways for her husband's great success. I understand she was his mentor in many respects.
The service for King was quite remarkable. Held in a tremendous church auditorium that seated 10,000 people. Among the guests were the entire U.S. Congress, four Presidents, two of whom, Carter and Clinton, owe their election in part to Coretta Scott King and Martin. The strange part of the service was the fact that George Bush and Laura Bush were there along with the Senior Bush not Barbara. After her inappropriate remarks about how uprooted people from New Orleans as a result of Katrina were improving their lives because of the charity of others or some such nonsense, I am glad she wasn't there. A number of the speeches honoring Coretta Scott King also took karem shots at Bush policies both domestic and foreign. Ted Kennedy received a very positive reception and zinged Bush several times, Rev. Lowery, Founder of Southern Christian Leadership Council, criticized Bush for spending money on war and not at home, and Bernice King also got some shots in of her own that seemed anti-Bush but also anti anyone who appeared to wander from her version of what she would call Christian or born again Christian values or so it seemed.
Maya Angelou both sang and sermonized poetically from the podium. She also criticized the terrible times we are in and called us all to action against the violence in the world we experience and that Mrs. King and her husband so reviled. Malcom X's daughter, Ms. Attallah Shabazz, stood out as an adept and thoughtful speaker who shared great emotions with us about her experiences with the King family and Coretta who seemed to be almost a mother figure in her life.
The two Clintons, Bill and Hillary, were a highlight of the event. Bill received wild applause from the audience everytime he said almost anything at first. It was hard for him to begin. He looked at Coretta's casket and said we must remember "There is a woman in there". He brought us back to reality after so many words spoken by others that made her seem so Godlike and back to the human experience which Bill is so good at revealing. It seemed as though Bill was launching Hillary's pollitical march toward the White House. I must say they were both eloquent and Hillary's speech seemed heartfelt. She seemed to identify with Coretta's devotion even sacrifice in helping someone to great heights not unlike herself in relation to Bill. But she went on to pay the highest respects to Coretta's courage against such great odds.
It was Bernice King's eulogy at the end that got me very confused and upset. I felt her sermonesque soliloquy was too personal, defensive, and cloaked in religious nonsense. I supposed it is sacrosanct to criticize her given her great grief and overwhelming loss which I am sure was real and heartfelt. It was Bernice's message though that concerned me. What was it we were to think. Bernice left me feeling sad rather than uplifted as she tried to symbolically explain why her Mother's last few days on earth, her moaning for three straight hours, the ovarian cancer, meant something about a struggle of good over evil or was it the other way around? For goodness sake, Coretta did not give up on life because she saw too much evil on earth. She was hardly one to give up on anything. Bernice just seems like a lost soul to me yet it is she is who in charge of a congregation and holder of the legacy. She did say a few things that made me think for a moment she was politically aware and then she just as quickly lost me as she would veer back to some kind of religious fantasy about the death of her Mother.
I was also touched by the eulogy by the woman who represented the American Jewish Committee and who so fondly remembered Coretta Scott King. The Jewish woman mentioned how faithfully Coretta kept in touoch with her and how she in effect remembered the Jewish people in her life which showed once again Mrs. King's great humanity. Today it is not always so popular for African Americans to support Jews even loyal civil rights supporter type Jewish people. Coretta Scott King spoke up for Gay rights and Marriage Equality. Her voice will be missed as we struggle for marriage equality. Several of the speakers brought up her support for Gay Rights in their speeches.
Sharon Raphael
The service for King was quite remarkable. Held in a tremendous church auditorium that seated 10,000 people. Among the guests were the entire U.S. Congress, four Presidents, two of whom, Carter and Clinton, owe their election in part to Coretta Scott King and Martin. The strange part of the service was the fact that George Bush and Laura Bush were there along with the Senior Bush not Barbara. After her inappropriate remarks about how uprooted people from New Orleans as a result of Katrina were improving their lives because of the charity of others or some such nonsense, I am glad she wasn't there. A number of the speeches honoring Coretta Scott King also took karem shots at Bush policies both domestic and foreign. Ted Kennedy received a very positive reception and zinged Bush several times, Rev. Lowery, Founder of Southern Christian Leadership Council, criticized Bush for spending money on war and not at home, and Bernice King also got some shots in of her own that seemed anti-Bush but also anti anyone who appeared to wander from her version of what she would call Christian or born again Christian values or so it seemed.
Maya Angelou both sang and sermonized poetically from the podium. She also criticized the terrible times we are in and called us all to action against the violence in the world we experience and that Mrs. King and her husband so reviled. Malcom X's daughter, Ms. Attallah Shabazz, stood out as an adept and thoughtful speaker who shared great emotions with us about her experiences with the King family and Coretta who seemed to be almost a mother figure in her life.
The two Clintons, Bill and Hillary, were a highlight of the event. Bill received wild applause from the audience everytime he said almost anything at first. It was hard for him to begin. He looked at Coretta's casket and said we must remember "There is a woman in there". He brought us back to reality after so many words spoken by others that made her seem so Godlike and back to the human experience which Bill is so good at revealing. It seemed as though Bill was launching Hillary's pollitical march toward the White House. I must say they were both eloquent and Hillary's speech seemed heartfelt. She seemed to identify with Coretta's devotion even sacrifice in helping someone to great heights not unlike herself in relation to Bill. But she went on to pay the highest respects to Coretta's courage against such great odds.
It was Bernice King's eulogy at the end that got me very confused and upset. I felt her sermonesque soliloquy was too personal, defensive, and cloaked in religious nonsense. I supposed it is sacrosanct to criticize her given her great grief and overwhelming loss which I am sure was real and heartfelt. It was Bernice's message though that concerned me. What was it we were to think. Bernice left me feeling sad rather than uplifted as she tried to symbolically explain why her Mother's last few days on earth, her moaning for three straight hours, the ovarian cancer, meant something about a struggle of good over evil or was it the other way around? For goodness sake, Coretta did not give up on life because she saw too much evil on earth. She was hardly one to give up on anything. Bernice just seems like a lost soul to me yet it is she is who in charge of a congregation and holder of the legacy. She did say a few things that made me think for a moment she was politically aware and then she just as quickly lost me as she would veer back to some kind of religious fantasy about the death of her Mother.
I was also touched by the eulogy by the woman who represented the American Jewish Committee and who so fondly remembered Coretta Scott King. The Jewish woman mentioned how faithfully Coretta kept in touoch with her and how she in effect remembered the Jewish people in her life which showed once again Mrs. King's great humanity. Today it is not always so popular for African Americans to support Jews even loyal civil rights supporter type Jewish people. Coretta Scott King spoke up for Gay rights and Marriage Equality. Her voice will be missed as we struggle for marriage equality. Several of the speakers brought up her support for Gay Rights in their speeches.
Sharon Raphael
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