For “Good Times,” I wanted to use a quick dip into my personal life, as a framework to examine to complexities of Black Existence. I’d wager one of the biggest commonalities we have in the Black Experience is reconciling what the world sees/expects of us, and who we really are. We’re haunted by the racialized toxic positivity alluded to in the lyrics “Shut Me Up for the Good Times,” the anti-Black intentions behind mass incarceration in “Lock Me Up for the Good Times,” and cognitive dissonance from a litany of Double Consciousness byproducts. 

Today marks three years since the U.S. first celebrated Juneteenth National Independence Day as a federal holiday. President Biden signed it into law, on June 17th, 2021, nearly 200 years after the first push to gain national recognition.

#AIRS Documentary Screening & Panel: Empowering Change
Crown Heights Brooklyn Public Library
560 New York Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225.
Tuesday, May 28th | 5:30-7 PM

Congrats to the Kandake Dance Theater for their showing of their rock opera "1,001 Nights on Death Row" at the Fresh Fruit Festival! We got the opportunity to film their performance on closing night.

#theater #music #rockopera #freshfruit #thenoticeblog #acting

Under the needle at a Brooklyn tattoo parlor, French-Cuban duo Ibeyi tells the story behind each song on their new album "Ash.

Following his release from prison in February 1990, South Africa's 1st President Nelson Mandela famously embraced Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman, Yasser Arafat in Lusaka, Zambia. He and his political party, the African National Congress (ANC), had long supported Palestinian statehood; comparing the Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank to South Africa's Apartheid, which barred Black South Africans from voting, owning land, and living outside of ethnically segregated areas called "Homelands."

We’re proud of the opportunity to produce, film, and witness Just Leadership USA’s Close Rikers Campaign in action in 2016. They rallied outside the Borough Halls of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx to pressure Mayor Bill DeBlasio and other key elected officials, to keep the commitment to close down Rikers.

“We don't think you fight fire with fire best; we think you fight fire with water best. We're going to fight racism not with racism, but we're going to fight with solidarity. We say we're not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but we're going to fight it with socialism.” - Fred Hampton

In 2017, Why Accountability and other New York activist groups joined together to provide free swipes to commuters in the Bronx, East New York, East Harlem, and other places targeted for fare-beating arrests. Demonstrators repeated to commuters and observing police officers that “Poverty is not a crime”, and that it is entirely legal to offer free swipes to fellow commuters. 

Months of work for one end-of-year extravaganza: The Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party! Last December we celebrated the culmination of 4 years of indie film production to create “Willow: State of Emergency.” It’s from the world of Paul A. Notice II's 2013 play, “Willow.” Watch it now on Amazon Prime!

Question: Who do you think of when you think of skateboarding? 

Shaw Boy: “They always mention Tony Hawk, it's not only Tony Hawk. It's the people right behind me, it’s the man over there… It’s multicultural it's not just for one person. It's for everybody.”

We had the privilege to produce the music video for Mike Bankhead’s latest Black Alternative ballad “Plantation.” Lyrics like the quote above conjure the phantoms of slavery in America, and its pervasiveness in the modern Western world.  

In a 16-page report titled “Our Narrative” and published on Sunday, The Palestinian group Hamas, which governs Gaza, said it wanted to “clarify” the background and dynamics of the surprise attack it calls Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

The report addressed post-war Gaza and the other issues that led to the Oct 7th attack, and the delayed retaliation to the thousands of Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli government over the past 24 years. 

Read the full report in the link in our bio.

For the full report, follow the link here.

Closing out the 2023 Holidays, ReelWorks hosted a gathering of Alumni from each of their training courses over the years. What’s remarkable was the amount of participants from BIPOC, Queer, Femme communities. While the TV and Film industry only consists of 28.8% of BIPOC professionals, 26%  women - more than 80% of the alumni participants were from these communities. 

I started homecoming back in 2015, and had been slowly but surely whittling away at hundreds of hours of footage - then a robbery took away some of my most prized memories: the 100th birthday of my great-granddad, Lilbert "Buddy" Hollins. It would be the last time I would see him alive. It was hard enough to work on a documentary that unabashedly looked at my depression, survivor's guilt, and PTSD while visiting the home, but the loss had become too great.

Come through to see the premiere of Mike Bankhead’s Black Alternative classic “Plantation” music video., directed by Paul A.Notice II. Stay till the end for a quick Q & A following the showing:

Tuesday, January 16th, 8:30pm

On December 16th, the Palestinian Youth Movement organized a public demonstration demanding a ceasefire, liberation for Palestine, and honor the thousands of lives lost in the U.S.-backed genocide against Palestinians. It was called the "March for the Martyrs." 

These are the images of that march.

Thank you so much for coming out to the Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party! This was one of the largest and most fantastic turnouts for our “Willow” events this year - and that is because of your presence and vibes!

I made a lil fun video for ya’ll! On Friday, Dec 8th at FirstLive, The Notice Blog is hosting an end-of-year costume extravaganza: The Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party! 

WHAT: Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party
WHEN: Friday, December 8th, 2023 | 8:30 PM - 1:30 AM
WHERE: FirstLive | 219 Central Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11221
TICKETS ($15): https://bit.ly/AVDParty
IG, X, FB: @willowhorror 

It was cold. And bristling. Wind burning my fingertips as I snapped shots in the dark illuminated by neon lights on a calm November night.

On the way to the Big Give, I felt an urge to capture the things I saw in Chelsea. Corridors: cavernous and liminal, but bustling with light. Some cool. Some warm. Others red. And blue. 

"Willow: State of Emergency" is NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO! This is such a momentous time right now. Ten years of script development. Three years of shoots, reshoots, hundreds of revisions upon revisions. Countless hours of work all for this:)

The Notice Blog is hosting a one-of-a-kind costume dance party to celebrate the release of our film "Willow: State of Emergency" on Amazon Prime Video: the Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party. This unique and immersive experience will also raise funds for their highly-anticipated Afrofuturist Multiverse series, "Willow: House of Griots." It all goes down on Friday, December 8th, 8:30 PM, at First Live (219 Central Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11221.) Best Costume receives a prize at the end of the night. Bring your fangs, best vampirc fit, and a thirst for dancing the night away! Tickets at: bit.ly/AVDParty 

Did you know The Notice Blog is a 501c(3) nonprofit production company? We support and produce narratives from BIPOC, Queer, Immigrant, and Formerly-Incarcerated people in Media, Journalism and the Performing Arts. We depend on support from community members like YOU to continue our work. 

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. This has been a tremendous journey, and I'm ecstatic to not only be at the helm of a talented and dedicated production team, but to also be a part of a community of supporters of the work itself.

BIG UPDATE: We’re pushing the Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party back to DECEMBER 8th, 8:30pm - 1:00AM, and changing the venue to FIRST LIVE (219 Central Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221).

An exploration of redemption, community, and the deconstruction of American law enforcement’s obsession with gangs, “The Disciple” follows former Gangster Disciple, Rev. Andy D. Williams’ fight against gang database policing in Aurora, IL, and beyond.