A new project: book/script on life of Pete O'Neal

On the night of my 39th birthday, I was in Tanzania getting ready for my flight back to New York and a wonderful thing happened.

I was at the United African Alliance Community Center, a community center that was founded by Pete O'Neal a former Black Panther Party member who has been living in exile for the past 40 years.  Since it was my birthday, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and we spent the evening with him reminiscing about his life in Kansas City, running the International Black Panther Party in Algiers, leaving the US, his marriage to his wonderful wife Charlotte and all of the hoop-la and craziness that lead to the creation of the man many know, love and respect today.

Many know of Pete O'Neal - there is a great documentary film on his life in Tanzania (called "A Panther in Africa" - go see it -its online), and many students have visited as part of their study abroad program.  However, despite his highly entertaining and enlightening life journey, no one has publicly told his back story.

So, we decided to collaborate - initially a book that I want to turn into a screenplay. I'm in the middle of having a nine and a half hour interview with him transcribed and wanted to share some of it.

Here is the opening, where Pete introduces his name.  Even the introduction is hilarious.  Stay tuned for an update in March.

***

"My name is Pete O’Neal. Wait a minute my name is Felix Lindsay O’Neal Juniors specifically. My nickname is Pete. And the reason that is so, let me show you the brilliance of this.

This has to be the thinking of young black women in the 1940s. My mother was pregnant, and she said she had a friend that was pregnant. And they were gossiping young girls, nineteen years old: “I’m gonna have a baby,” “I’m wanna have a baby too!” “What are we gonna name them?” “Well let’s see. If they’re a boy, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. The first one that has the baby,” because they were pregnant around the same time, “we’ll name the boy ‘Pete.’ And then the second baby, we’ll call him ‘Repeat.’”

So can you imagine if you will? This poor child, this poor male, wherever on this earth he may be, laboring under the burden of the name.  But if he was, can you imagine this? “Repeat Johnson.” That is a hell of a thing idn’t it? Yes I said, “Thank God you had me first.”"

I am soooo excited to get moving on this project!!!!

Urban Word Live!!!

This year I'm really excited to try out some new technology. I'm partnering with Urban Word NYC - the nonprofit I spend a lot of time with that gives free workshops in spoken word poetry and creative writing to NYC teens - to do an online broadcast of their 2010 slam season.

That's right - you can watch the slam from the comfort of your own computer and its totally free. The preliminary slam starts February 28th.  Check the site for the rest of the schedule.

If you want to check out some of the most talented young social commentators (ie poets), please join our Facebook Fan Page at

here.

and visit our site at


http://www.urbanwordlive.com.

Happy Holidays!

Greetings!

As 2009 comes to a close, I want to take this time to thank those of you who have supported me and my work on behalf of women and young people. Whether as a colleague, a friend, an audience member, or a supporter, I couldn't have asked for a better year in being able to do the work I care so deeply about. As a colleague of mine said last night, "2009 was your year" and it was! It would not have been possible without the support I receive from so many of you.

As Maya Angleou wrote, "If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities."

Thank you for helping me realize the power of a dream.

Many thanks and happy holidays!

Lisa

Producer/Director
GOVERNESS FILMS
www.governessfilms.com




Highlights of 2009
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- April 2009: Premiered "Not Yet Rain", a short film on unsafe abortion, produced in association with Ipas
- May 2009: Traveled to the Cannes Film Festival with the pitch reel for my new film, "The Parliament of One" on US-UN relations.
- May 2009: Received the Emmy® Award in the "Outstanding Advanced Media Interactivity" category for "Bi-Racial Hair" starring Zora Howard and produced as part of the WGBH Lab with the National Black Programming Consortium.
- June/July 2009: Keynote at nine National Youth Leadership Forum conferences in Boston, Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta with "Love, Labor, Loss", on obstetric fistula in Niger.
- August 2009: Filmmed in Northern Uganda for "YOUTH ZONES", a film and poetry initiative with UNFPA and Women's Refugee Commission.
- September 2009: Filmmed exclusive interview footage with Pete O'Neal in Tanzania in preparation for a book/script on his life story.
- September/October 2009: Filmmed at the UN General Assembly and completed second round of interviews for "The Parliament of One."
- November 2009: Invited to join the Editorial Committee for the Maternal Health Task Force.



2010 Projections
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- Develop and launch MDGFive.com - a film and new media initiative to increase civic engagement to meet MDG Five on maternal health.
- Premiere "YOUTH ZONES", a film and poetry initiative with UNFPA and Women's Refugee Commission profiling young people in conflict and natural disasters in Liberia, Lebanon, Colombia, New Orleans and Northern Uganda.
- Research and development with award-winning choreographer, Tamilla Woodard and activist Joao Brando, on a live theater piece focused on sexual violence in the DR Congo and the Conflict Mineral Trade Act introduced by Representative Jim McDermott.
- Continue fundraising for production funds for "The Parliament of One" and "Myth of the Motherland."



Show your support of independent artists: Make a tax-free donation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As independent filmmakers, we spend more of time raising funds than actually working on the projects we care about. Governess Films can definitely use your support to keep our projects moving.

If you are interested in making a tax-free donation to Lisa Russell's independent documentary projects, please visit the following sites:

http://fiscalsponsorship.ifp.org/donate_now.html

And choose either,

"The Parliament of One"
"Myth of the Motherland"

Thank you!