"Renaissance" | Milwaukee Film Screening

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Beyonce’s “Renaissance” film proves to be the model for all concert films! This grand, 3-hour production masterpiece was four years in the making and as I sat in the third row from the big screen at The Oriental, I could tell that not a day was wasted.

“Flaws and All'' & “Dangerously in Love” was the opener and despite its history as a declaration to a lover, in this particular performance, Beyonce allowed herself to be in awe of the moment and sang it as a ballad to her growing audience of almost 30 years and shared some words of affirmation along with it. She was dressed in an ethereal black gown in the first scene which complimented the romanticization of the mutual admiration between herself and the fans, yet it also could be seen as a tamed contrast to the otherworldliness of her later outfits- symbolic of her growth from a pop star to world declared icon. Through her catalog, she humanizes this journey with flashbacks of behind-the-scenes development consisting of aches, pains, hands-on construction, harsh hours, and properly giving out flowers to all who had a hand on this tour. Even to those whose smaller parts have had a great impact on her, like her daughter Blue Ivy, who did not shy away from the stage nor from having a creative opinion. The standard was the method for all to adopt and this large collective crew of artists and otherwise showed true to it by their results. There was positivity depicted in wins of all magnitudes and mishaps that only highlighted the true nature of teamwork and leadership; Trust. However, with being human comes the not-so-great reality as well. A piece of that reality, which may easily be overlooked by many whom it may not concern, is that no matter how many victories your method has produced, being intelligent as a black woman creative doesn’t put one out of range from having ‘them’ (yes ‘them’) attempt to try you mentally. When approached with such bravado, Beyonce’s only response was fearlessly remembering to choose to stand in her own authority rather than giving into the regret of the so-called stigma of being assertive with high demands. Who's to say how long it has been that Beyonce has truly felt within herself the courage to see through to getting her way at all times and at all costs but mastering that commitment can make an established art form to those on the outside feel renewed to the one inside.

As narrated and depicted through and through, the Renaissance is not just an era or a stage, it's a transcendence of a culture and the individuals in it. As the most catered-to audience (haha-wink), the African Diaspora, whether they be man, woman, straight, LGBTQIA+, adult, child, African or Black American, and so forth, vicariously experienced the glamor of our multifaceted culture through time via this tour. It is a great hoorah! moment for all leaving no question that Beyonce is a voice for every creed and that the modern approach is historically unapologetic.

/Naomi-Re’a CW


/CW is a Proud Community Partner of Milwaukee Film's Black History Month Programming

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Art by liv burks

We are going “BLACK to BLACK” with Black History Month Celebrations. /CW is a Proud Community Partner of Milwaukee Film's Black History Month Programming. Check out the last of films we cant wait to see!

FOLLOW US ON INSTIGRAM FOR YOU CHANCE TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO SEE ONE OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNER FILM SCREENINGS.

@copywritemag

GAINING GROUND: THE FIGHT FOR BLACK LAND | 2/29/24 | THUR. 7:00PM

In just a few decades after the end of enslavement, Black Americans were able to amass millions of acres of farmland. Today approximately 90% of that land is no longer in Black hands. Various factors have been employed to take Black land, including violence, eminent domain and government discrimination. But it is a little-known issue — heirs’ property — that has had a devastating effect on Black land ownership. Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land is a timely and stirring documentary from Emmy-nominated producer/director Eternal Polk and Al Roker Entertainment that examines the causes, effects what is being done to fight the exploitation of these issues, and how landowners are reclaiming their agricultural legacy and creating paths to generational wealth.

INVISIBLE BEAUTY | 2/17/24 | SAT. 12:00PM

Fashion revolutionary Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in the fight for racial diversity. From walking runway shows alongside Iman to discovering supermodels like Tyson Beckford and mentoring icons like Naomi Campbell, Hardison has been at the epicenter of major representational shifts in fashion. Catalyzing change requires continuous championing, and as the next generation takes the reins, Hardison reflects on her personal journey and the cost of being a pioneer.

In tandem with Frédéric Tcheng (Halston, Dior and I), Bethann Hardison and her co-director trace her impact on fashion from runway shows in New York and Paris in the ’70s to roundtables about lack of racial diversity in the early 2000s. Interviews with industry players speak to the state of fashion, while friends and family attest to Hardison’s rebellious and ambitious spirit. The film is an absorbing record of Hardison’s accomplishments and a rare contemplation on the life of a radical thinker.

TREASURED HEIRLOOMS - Black Lens Shorts Program | 2/10/24  | SAT. 12:00PM

From the tingling sensation of the alcohol spray following a haircut to the quick-paced hand games of our youth that occupied us for hours, the essence of Blackness has continuously worked as a dynamic archive of rites of passage and traditions that hold a special place in defining who we are. "TREASURED HEIRLOOMS" is a short film program delving into how Black folks globally are actively engaged in preserving, archiving, and creating approaches to ensure the endurance of our cherished traditions. This reflective cinematic offering aims to encourage us to embrace our traditions intimately, connecting us with both our past and future selves. - Marquise Mays, Black Lens Programmer

Shorts: Treasured Heirlooms featuring:

WILD MAGNOLIAS Dir. Alexandra Kern

MORE THAN HAIR Dir. Fitch Jean

GLITTER AIN'T GOLD Dirs. Christian Nolan Jones and Dominick Cormier

QUILTED EDUCATION Dir. Kayla Robinson

OVER THE WALL Dir. Krystal Tingle

AMPE: LEAP INTO THE SKY, BLACK GIRL Dirs. Ife Oluwamuyide and Claudia Owusu

The Mountaintop Legacy Award | Honoring Milwaukee Change-Makers

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Art by Mikal Floyd-Pruitt

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre is thrilled to share with its community Pulitzer Prize-winner Katori Hall’s celebrated stage play THE MOUNTAINTOP, an inspiring reimagining of the final night of the life of legendary Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 3rd, 1968, after delivering one of his most memorable speeches, Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel, where a mysterious stranger forces him to confront his destiny and legacy. A classic of the modern theater that in humanizing Dr. King suggests that we all have within us the power to be the change we wish to see in the world, THE MOUNTAINTOP will be directed by acclaimed Milwaukee theater artist Dimonte Henning. 

In keeping with its larger mission of bringing its community closer together while celebrating what makes Milwaukee great, and in partnership with CopyWrite Magazine, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, and Zao MKE Church, MCT will highlight Black excellence in Milwaukee during the run of THE MOUNTAINTOP through the Mountaintop Legacy Award. MCT will recognize at each MOUNTAINTOP performance one Milwaukee difference-maker who exemplifies the ideals of unity, equity, and locally led movements highlighted by Dr. King in his final speech, commonly referred to as “The Mountaintop Speech.”

Mountaintop Legacy Award recipients will be selected by a panel of MCT artists and community partners from nominations by the public of individuals who best exemplify Dr. King’s ideals across sectors including but not limited to political, nonprofit, business, educational, art, and tech.  

[INFO PROVIDED BY /CW COMMUNITY PARTNERS AT MCT]

Happy Black History [everyday] Month from your /CW Fam!

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History is made daily.

Active practice is true performance.

Advocacy should be ambitious.

Challenges should never stop progressive change.

We are Black.

We are proud.

& you know why it matters.

Happy Black History Month from your /CW Fam

A Moon for the Misbegotten | Snap Shot Press Release

/ Milwaukee Chamber Theater/

“I don’t know what to think!”

It’s not a phrase I utter often [nor do I appreciate sentiments of equivocalness as a posture of perspective]. However, the phrase was the only thing that could come to my mind as the Sunday, January 21st, 2024 showing of Eugen O’Neill’s, A Moon for the Misbegotten, ended at the Milwaukee Chamber Theater.

In an effort to unpack my thoughts I had to confront my entry point into the play [the casting of La Shawn Banks as James Tyrone, Jr] and the thematic subtleties that would allow me to see past the rickety porch and vastness of “desolate Connecticut”. 

All images provided by MCT shot by Micheal Brosilow

The intimate glimpse into the periphery of society as a note of unideal existence is something that this revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten does well. A father whose drunkenness drives his sons away [Phil Hogan played by James Pickering], a daughter who uses her sharp tongue to avoid the pain of her insecurities while picking up the slack for her patriarch [Josie Hogan played by Kelly Doherty], and the thorn of socioeconomics in its human form as T. Steadman Harder [played by Zach Thomas Woods] gripes about his fence and ice pond when his neighbors live in subpar conditions. But Mike Hogan [played by A.J. Magoon] escaping without confronting his father is something I wish O’Niell had the foresight to correct. It denotes the subservience of a woman in society, as a nurturer of those who don't deserve to be nurtured. As sure as she robbed her father to free her brother of his suffering she does not enact her own freedom.

 [I hated that for her]

But that nuance of perspective coming from this 21st century feminist [YES I AM!] was minimal, noting that her love interest as a “foul” mouthed Irish woman was with a Black man. Now as plausible as it would have been for James Tyrone, Jr. to be an African American landowner and actor in the 1920’s, there would obviously be social scrutiny for Josie and James to be together no matter how many demons they both have collectively. Where the role was not originally written to cast a person of color, I applaud the selection because Bank’s portrayal was quite believable. His cityslicker slyness with overly emotional tendencies [it was giving an actor playing a person who is definitely an actor] was spot on. But I could only predict it would never work out. I could never really see even the alcoholc-ist of alcoholics encouraging their daughter to be with someone he knows could never maintain her publicly. Not even the ploy to get his money seemed reasonable because once they were seen together would that not be a social provision for violence in that time? It's rough because as a multiracial Black woman with Irish roots, I know how I got here [and it wasn't cute]. 

Similarly the whisky wagon never left the stage! The highs and lows of an alcoholic binge is always unsettling. The way Phil and James were throwing them back you couldn't be sure where their thoughts were coming from and if they had any control over their narcissistic behavior. And why should they when the bosom of Josie will be there waiting to care for them [Again, I hate that for her]? Even in her hope for something more with James, her agency was taken when he chastises her for saying she had been “around the way” with other men, and him so certain that it was fib [So men can do it but women can’t? Tuh! It’s given misogyny]. To then turn around and be all out of sorts for doing up a sex worker [repeatedly] on the train while bringing home is mothers dead body!?! If Mr. Tyrone was looking for sympathy, he could definitely look past me [If you like “city girls” just say that!] But again, as I analyzed what I had experienced take place on that stage, I could only imagine my father who suffered from alcoholism throughout his life and his womanizing tendencies. Could he have ever showed up to some ladies doorstep begging for comfort as an illusion of humility? Unfortunately, I will never know. 

The highs and lows of James’ drunken lust for Josie, cloaked with his attempt to “maintain” her chastity was too much for me. Make up your mind sir! Push her away from you one more time and its borderline domestic violence. The way her belligerent father was trying to get her in the bed with his drinking buddy and landlord for a few coins is wild [Pickering made me despise Phil Hogan]. I mean here is a man with no shame whatsoever. And yikes Josie! Grow a backbone! That self-deprivation got her nowhere but loveless, sexless, and moneyless [forget a drama, that makes it a tragedy]. She talks down on herself, she lets everyone in her life take advantage of her, and she is stuck. Stuck on that porch looking for something that you can only find inside of yourself. The way Doherty invited torture to her existence in this role showed commitment. There was no ego to bear and no diva to deliver in the shell of a woman that was left of Josie at the end.

What does this say about humanity? What does this say about a society that still feels O’Neill’s narrative should be shared?

I think it says we are flawed. I think it is a reminder that comfort is a luxury many can not afford. It says we have more to learn about why we break and what breaks us. I also think it says that the theater is a place to feel discomfort as long as it interrogates the boundaries of societal niceties. 

I did not love A Moon for the Misbegotten. But I respected it. It challenged my empathy and sometimes you need that from art.

Sometimes you need to know what uncertainty feels like.  


Lexi S. Brunson 

Editor-in-Chief /CW

Alan Ward-"Bucket"-SINGLE

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Alan Ward plays on themes of humility and big picture thinking in his latest single “Bucket” and dedicated a live performance of it to the victims of the October shootings that took place at Bowie State University and Morgan State University a week prior- an appropriate tribute as he uprooted himself from his home in Milwaukee and settled in Baltimore, MD where these two schools are located. He performs with a single mic around the BSU campus in an Unfinished Legacy ‘Milwaukee’ shirt and vibes out to the groove of a somber-toned yet warm and smooth production from Stoic (Mick Jenkins- “Smoke Break-Dance,” “Guapanese”). This chill anthem gives sound to the season of fall and the familiar feelings associated with it during the approach of the end of yet another year. Ward’s nonchalant bravado and impressive word play portrays the mellowed out cool-kid persona that comes with owning the life that you live. He creatively describes the gray area of staying in your lane to get further while playing your part socially as one of life’s simplicities of a young person with lots to do and much to prove. Give this track a listen, Milwaukee, and remember… “All Love. Peace. Put the guns down. Let’s party up!”- Ward

/Naomi-Re’a CW


Monterey Slayton- “All The World’s A Stage”

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 There’s been a lowkey wave of Artists of all walks finding more joy and purpose in taking the behind the scenes approach to the creative side of things- from Teyana Taylor finding comfort as a director behind the camera to Jay Versace, once a viral viner now a masterful producer for the likes of SZA. But the world is still needing to catch on to talented Milwaukeeans like Monterey Slayton who is quietly yet confidently dominating behind multiple corners of music. 

  “All The World’s A Stage” has just dropped and was announced to be Slayton’s final Album as his own artist before embarking on the journey of a songwriter. After about 4 years since his heavy unload of music in 2019, Slayton decided to leave the forefront of musical creativity with a taste of what his pengame will have in store for other deserving Artists. This 14 track body of work is clearly cut from the cloth of the late 90’s- early 2000’s blueprint of R&B. Slayton’s cadence, the lyrical content and musical references, to the overall production choice (shout out the producer Digital Rose) all mesh together to create a refreshing yet nostalgic piece of material. 

The Album is broken up into three parts and is introduced as if to be a scripted audition (or soundtrack sequence) to a classic black love story with Montrey being typecast as the attentive yet imperfect loverboy, like that of one of our favorite black romances. It begins with the highs of the ‘Honeymoon Phase’ and the ‘Climax’-with songs like “Someone to Love,” that reminds us that roses on a monday are the standard. The mission of pleasure is the only topic that matters to him and his lover and it's unapologetic. Then we’re met with ‘The End', the third segment of music where songs like “Too Far” and ”These Pictures” highlight the deciding moment for many relationships alike which are inflamed by disappointment and indecisiveness. It challenges the idea of what it takes to accept someone as a lover and leaves the listener with their imagination. I say that no matter which part of the love spectrum we find ourselves on, when it comes to listening to some good R&B, as long as there’s a lil’ “Nayhooooo” thrown in there, We gone feel it either way!

/Naomi-Re’a CW


Rakim- “Lover’s Playground” Music Event

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A lot of us may still be running that last stretch of being a twenty-something but I think I speak for most of us when I say the club is getting tired! As an answer to the dilemma of wanting to kick it, mingle and enjoy good music without putting up with the jarring atmosphere that comes with typical nightlife, multi-faceted curator Rakim hosted his newly established Lover’s Playground for the third time this year. I wasn’t sure what to expect entirely but once the vibes began to build and the people started to arrive, I got the point and my understanding was later confirmed by Rakim himself: 

R: “..it's basically a party for people that want to come and enjoy music based on just good vibes; Non-abrasive sonics…We invite different DJs around the city, you know. And that's a major aspect of it too because it's not really about me DJing.. It's really just about having different DJs from around the world come in or us being able to lock in DJ’s from the city with different styles.”

Ironically upon my arrival there was some throwback Jay-Z playing. It wasn't abrasive but it definitely wasn’t lovey dovey either. However, the true essence of this night began to take over as Lik, Rakim, and DJ Nudy, who will be DJing alongside Core DJ Kev this New Year’s Eve for Boosie and Webbie right in our city, took turns adding their own flavor to the theme of love with throwback hits from Chris Brown, some new Drake, and Trey Songz.

R: “We wanted all love based and just beautiful, beautiful music… People don't engage with the music, They don't dance a lot. The music's super harsh, It's loud as hell- I like the loud music, but just [want] more dancing.”

CW: “I think that that's a good reminder that all music has a place and a purpose Because I feel like so much of the music now is focused on one emotion- one mode to be in- it's aggressive. It's unfriendly sometimes and it's negative, but it's a place- there's a place for being sad, A place for being lovey, there's a place for being social, and you can't really be like that with THAT type of music…”

Once he acknowledged the need for lightening up a social environment through music, Rakim Invited The Roses Prevail’s (TRP) Producer Lik Henderson to brainstorm along with him. Lik humbly gave Rakim the credit for the ideation but Rakim insisted that his perspective and input made this a total collab. They both sought to creatively capitalize on the amount of attention that our beautiful city has received, even more so on the artistic end of course, while unifying the DJ community of all sounds and experience with every Lover’s Playground event. 


Lik: ”...Once we had the leverage to build the brand to that point, we want to eventually bring people here and give people a reason to come to Milwaukee…”

CW: “Do you feel like the capacity matters in a sense…? if it's tailored to this event specifically, [there] wouldn't be [many people] you know what I mean? It would be more intimate….?”

LH: “I mean, we want it to get as big as it can get, you know what I'm saying? But we know in nature it's kind of like an intimate, exclusive vibe. You don't have to play what you consider popular... the DJs not necessarily playing the more popular Music, right? So the audience is coming for an alternative vibe. So that's in essence gonna always be a smaller capacity.”

Sounds to me like I have something to look forward to for my little world of being an introverted musical socialite. Will you be at the next one? 

/Naomi-Re’a CW