"Your Favorite Press" is Back at Milwaukee Film Fest 2023 | Join us!

We’re Backkkkkkkkk!

We are so excited to kick off our Milwaukee Film Fest 2023 coverage, where “Your Favorite Press” [Us, its us. CopyWrite Magazine LOL] will be bringing our “special interest” [you know #AllThingsUrban, #SupportTheLocal, #RootingForEverybodyBlack, #ArtIsLife] perspective to the mix. This year we are inviting you to share the experience with us, as we share our lineup of movies we will definitely be checking out, including our Community Partner feature, Rise and Rebuild: A Tale of Three Cities. So grab a friend, and get your snacks. It's time to get “mad ethnic right now” in the theater. 


OUR COMMUNITY PARTNER FILMS

Rise and Rebuild: A Tale of Three Cities portrays individuals in Atlanta, Chicago, and Wilmington, North Carolina, who confront the historical destruction of Black wealth in their communities and devise strategies for building a more equitable future. 

Saturday, Apr 29 | 12:15 PM | Avalon Theater 

Wednesday, May 3 | 3:45 PM | Times Cinema

Keep up with us on Instagram @copywritemag for your chance to win tickets to see this film!

 

FILMS WE PLAN TO SEE

Like a quasar burning past the gaslight, director Lisa Cortes’ eye-opening documentary explores the whitewashed canon of American pop music. Little Richard: I Am Everything clarifies the Black, queer origins of rock ’n’ roll and establishes the genre’s big bang: Richard Wayne Penniman. 

Saturday, Apr 29 | 6:15 PM | Oriental Theater: Abele Cinema 

Thursday, May 4 | 1:30 PM | Avalon Theater

 

BLACK LENS SHORTS: BLACK REMEMBRANCE is a collection of short films that explores, interrogates, and engages how cinema can be used as an active archival tool to process grief and loss. Join us as we discover what honor could look like on the silver screen. 

Tuesday, Apr 25 | 7:00 PM | Times Cinema

 

Angel Ellis, a reporter for Mvskoke Media, just wants to give her readers transparent and truthful access to news relevant to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. But when Angel and her colleagues challenge the integrity of tribal officials, they set off a whirlwind that ends in the dissolution of their independent media. BAD PRESS is a nuanced, empowering tale of a modern Native community fighting for transparency and access to information to hold their government accountable.

Saturday, Apr 29 | 5:00 PM | Avalon Theater

Wednesday, May 3 | 1:30 PM | Avalon Theater

DEAR THIRTEEN lends insight into the perspectives of nine thirteen-year-olds across the globe. Told through gorgeous cinematography—with no adult commentary but the filmmaker’s— these diverse and far-reaching stories will inspire younger teens going through the similar task of coming of age amidst urgent challenges to their generation. Older teens and adults will have a poignant dose of nostalgia through the film’s meditation on the endless and universal quest of self-discovery.

Saturday, Apr 22 | 12:45 PM | Oriental Theater: Lubar Cinema

Tuesday, May 2 | 6:30 PM | Times Cinema

JASMINE IS A STAR follows a determined sixteen-year-old with albinism (lack of pigment in the hair, skin, and eyes) who makes it her mission to become a professional model in her hometown of Minneapolis while attempting to go unnoticed in every other aspect of her teenage life. Director Jo Rochelle (writer for Freeform’s GOOD TROUBLE) creates a sensitive depiction of a different category of teenage angst.

Saturday, Apr 22 | 9:30 PM | Avalon Theater

Wednesday, Apr 26 | 6:45 PM | Oriental Theater: Lubar Cinema

THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER follows anti-hero Vicaria, a brilliant teenager who believes death is a disease that can be cured. After the brutal murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life. Inspired by Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN, the film’s writer and director, Bomani J. Story, crafts a thrilling tale about a family that will survive and is reborn again despite the terrors of systemic pressure.

Friday, Apr 21 | 10:00 PM | Oriental Theater: Lubar Cinema

Sunday, Apr 23 | 8:00 PM | Times Cinema

EVENTS WE WILL BE AT

As creatives, our minds are always buzzing with story ideas. But more often than not, they tend to stay in our imagination. It may be the web series you’ve been plotting. Or the next great action flick you’ve cooked up! Or even that documentary you’d like to take to the next level? Join BLACK LENS at our storytelling workshop and game night, Writing In Color, and discover what it means to graduate your idea from your mind to the silver screen. 

Saturday, April 29 | 6:00 PM | Radio Milwaukee


Love & All Things Urban,

/CW FAM

HAPPY 4-1-4 DAY FROM YOUR /CW FAM!

At /CW we love to #SupportTheLocal & for us that’s the 414!

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Help Our Neighbor, Shakkiah Curtis | The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) & Milwaukee Visionaries of the Year

Help Our Neighboor, Shakkiah Curtis of Spinn MKE, raise money for raise money and awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)

A message from Shakkiah:

I’m running my campaign in honor of my mom. As some of you may know, when I was 17 years old, my mom had a blood clot that brought her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. The doctors didn’t know much about her specific blood disorder, and it was first treated like Leukemia, then Sickle Cell Disease and now fast forward to 15 years later and they still don’t have a specific diagnosis for her. I remember being so frustrated as a teenager that my mom was sick and spent way too many nights at the hospital. My mom recently moved to Atlanta for her care where she is still on medications, receiving blood transfusions, and currently battling seizures…and I’m still frustrated. My mom deserves a diagnosis and specific treatment catered to her diagnosis.  

We were so thankful that LLS was there to provide us with resources but there is still so much more work that needs to be done. I am proud to share that LLS is leaving no stone unturned in the fight for equity in healthcare and this includes: 

  • Making sure EVERY patient has access to clinical trials

  • Preventing discrimination against cancer patients on the basis of race, color, and other factors

  • Ensuring robust data collection in healthcare that allows us to better understand our progress in addressing racism—and the work that remains

I believe that through better access to clinical trials and better access to healthcare we can hopefully get answers to someone like my mom much sooner. 

 

My team’s goal is to raise $50,000 between March 30thand June 10th. It’s a lofty goal, but I know with the support of my community we can make it happen and I need your help. There are a few ways you can support my fundraising efforts: 

  1. Donate via my personal fundraising page:https://pages.lls.org/voy/wi/wi23/dcurtis

  2. Share my message & fundraising link with your contacts via email or social media

  3. Donate a silent auction item that can be used for the Grand Finale Gala auction

  4. Help me secure a corporate sponsorship(Sponsorships start at $5,000 and sponsors receive Gala benefits)

Thank you for your generosity and support. Your donation truly makes a difference and with your help, we’re one step closer to a cure for blood cancers. 

Introducing, Spider Creek 7

Spider Creek 7 is a 2 day recording session bringing together an eclectic group of artists from across the city of milwaukee. With recording artists of all genres and skill sets. The goal of Spider Creek 7 for each artist is to create great music with other talented people they may have never worked with before. We ask that if you would like to support you repost the flyer for the event on instagram. It will be posted on Spider Creeks account ( @spider.creek). If you would like to get involved you may either DM @spider.creek on instagram or email spidercreekarts@gmail.com .


Spider Creek is a music collective based out of Milwaukee Wisconsin full of an eclectic group of artists ranging from musicians and producers to visual artists. Sonically, the group enjoys the term “Genre Fluid” to describe their sound. On any given night you may hear rock, blues, hip hop, R&B as well as many other genres. The collective’s inception took place in March of 2020. In an attempt to escape the insanity of the early stages of the pandemic the 4 original members, SAINTRÈ, IanJames. , Makatà and Lizzie Kay rented a house in northern Wisconsin on a body of water called “Spider Creek”, with the intent of writing a collaboration album. At the end of the week they had finished the project and went their separate ways as artists. Over the course of the next year and a half they continued to have Spider Creek recording sessions while maintaining their solo artist status. It wasn’t until January of 2022 that the 4 decided to focus on creating a collective. Since that time the group has invited new artists to each session, and added two new members into the collective full time, Keyba and LOVEPeso, only intensifying the complexity and eclectic nature that Spider Creek embodies.

SS23 | Street Smartz [Promo Video] | Tickets on Sale Now!

On April 7th, 2023 from 5:00PM-9:00PM, The Vatofied Experience will be collaborating with the Designers of Marcellus Brand, Platinum Boy Gang Clothing, Views Clothing, and The Set Apart Ones [Yahad Kadash] to offer a dynamic show that presents Black Men in fashion, a more than trendy display on Urban wear, and the ever morphing nuances of modern fashion culture. Each designer has their own following, aesthetic, and “ear to the streets” so that they can continually redefine what fashion looks like. 

With authentic community and collaboration as key investments to any CopyWrite collaborative event, SS23 is proud announce Media Sponsorship from Hyfin, Community Sponsorship with Ex Fabula, Jazale's Art Studio & other production sponsor including Shot By Basi, Shot By Stearns, Wolf Studios, and Paul Mitchell The School, Milwaukee. 


Tickets are available now. General Admission tickets are $40 and VIP tickets are $60.  All proceeds will support these freelance creative collaborators and local black & brown owned small businesses. Click the link or scan the QR Code to share or purchase tickets. 

SS23 | A Street Wear Experience - TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

On April 7th, 2023 from 5:00PM-9:00PM, The Vatofied Experience will be collaborating with the Designers of Marcellus Brand, Platinum Boy Gang Clothing, Views Clothing, and The Set Apart Ones [Yahad Kadash] to offer a dynamic show that presents Black Men in fashion, a more than trendy display on Urban wear, and the ever morphing nuances of modern fashion culture.

Media Sponsorship Provided by: Hyfin, “Connecting The Culture”.