WHAT'S THE NEWS FOR 2012?
The
New Edition of Heritage of Power is here!!! Order now on this
site or via Amazon.com. Expanded, updated with new
material and illustrations plus an index and larger bibliography,
it's a major revision of this important work!
In St. Louis it is available now at the Julia Davis Libråry,
Left Bank Books, and The Missouri History Museum Shop in Forest Park.
Watch for it too at Barnes and Noble.Purchase it or the DVD on this
site under the "Shop" tab.
Two Black History and Women's History events
to attend (booking more!):
========
EVENT 1: SCREENING AT CAAM THIS SUNDAY!
An Invitation from Susheel Bibbs
This Sunday, Jan 22, join me and see my award-winning PBS film --
Meet Mary Pleasant at California African-American Museum (CAAM) in
Los Angeles at 2 pm --
CAAM is at 600 State Dr.
I'll will be there for Q & A and a book/DVD signing.
-Full EVENT Details --(Just paste the link in your browser)
http://www.californiafilm.net/events/meet-mary-pleasant-chosen-to-screen-in-la-jan-22-2012?xg_source=msg_appr_event
Please come and pass the word
-More on CAAM
http://www.caamuseum.org/
========
EVENT 2: Mar. 17, 2pm. Free. "Meet The Hyers Sisters" --Bibbs
reveals activist divas at AAMLO
Hear Susheel sing (a bit), illustrate with visuals, and present her
new research on 19th-century activist Divas -- The Hyers Sisters --subjects
of her next film.
-Venue/sponsor: the African American Museum and Library at Oakland
(AAMLO), 659 14th St., Oakland, CA.
-Guest artist: acclaimed baritone Robert Sims
-Full EVENT Details:(Just paste the link in your browser)
http://www.californiafilm.net/events/meet-the-hyers-sisters-bibbs-reveals-activist-divas-at-aamlo?xg_source=msg_appr_event
-More on AAMLO
http://www.oaklandlibrary.org
Donations Needed -- Tax Deductible!
1)
Help Us Produce A Special FILM with CONCERT -- You can help!
Susheel Bibbs is now working on a documenary on The Hyers Sisters.
Who were they?-- The First black opera singers to succeed in touring
the US on the operatic concert stage, first to form a successful comic
opera troupe (called one of the best in the US), first troupe to chronicle
the black experience from slavery to freedom in no fewer than seven
musicals, the sole company to sustain employment for black singers,
actors, and dancers who did not wish to be defined by minstrel shows,
the first to open leading roles for them in musicals. And, they started
this as teens in 1867! They deserve to be known. The goal is first
to produce a live concert that will be excerpted in the film and next
to release the film for a PBS in 2014. The film is sponsored fiscally
by the San Francisco Film Society.
Please
make your tax-deductible gift --
=Online link for your browser: www.sffs.org/donate/donate-now.aspx?pid=945
=Mailing address: -checks made out to the San Francisco Film Society
with a note -- "donation for Voice for Freedom: The Hyers Sisters'
Dream, Change, and Legacy by Bibbs."
The mailing address should read
Attn: Finance Department of the San Francisco Film Society
Suite 110, 39 Mesa Street. The Presidio. San Francisco, CA, 94129
2)
Help
us continue to distribute our award-winning film Meet Mary Pleasant
(Mother of Civil Rights in CA) to schools colleges and libraries--
Go to the link below or mail to the address above. Any amount will
help:
http://www.sffs.org/Filmmaker360/Project-Development/current-projects.aspx?filter=m
2012 Touring Presentations
Have presentations, will travel! As you may have heard, I'm pleased
to be touring again with --
o Meet Mary Pleasant -- my live dramatic enactment (chautauqua) on
Mary Pleasant in her own words and interspersed spirituals
and
o Film Screenings -- Meet Mary Pleasant (Mother of Civil Rights in
California) -- 1 hr., PBS version; The Legacy of Mary Ellen Pleasant
-- 1/2 hr. short version. These can be presented singly, with a talk
by me, or with a chautauqua as a two-day event. All are proven fund
raisers.
=The trailer and film are available on this site.
2011Archive
New Fax
--
NEW
FAX MEP Productions has a new fax
number: 916/921-5785
(Fax store PO's)
New Edition of Heritage of Power is here!!! Order now
on this site -- same price, new information and index! Greatly expanded
and sized to fit on your bookshelf. Order now; allow for a late June
delivery and appearance on Amazon.com.
MEP grave marker
dedicated -- 6-11-11 at 11:30 am at Napa's Tulocay Cemetery. We did
it! A beautiful new stone will now grace the grave of Mary Ellen Pleasant.
Thanks to all who made it possible!
EVENT
-- MAY 7. 2011, 2PM -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bibbs
Brings Pleasant Back to the Bay Area!
Run through May 7
Contact:
San Leandro Library
Mary Lee Barr, (510) 577-3971
Soprano, actress, and filmmaker Susheel Bibbs is well-known for
her enactment of Mary Ellen Pleasant, Mother of Civil Rights in California,
but the Bay Area has not seen this acclaimed program for several years.
On May 7 at 2 pm Bibbs will once again put on the Pleasant mantle
to bring this daring woman to life for Bay Area audiences -- this
time at the San Leandro Library, 300 Estudillo Ave, San Leandro, CA
94577. The one-woman show, called a chautauqua, is entitled Meet Mary
Pleasant and is free to the public.
In this colorful three-part drama, Bibbs plays Pleasant in a monologue
based on Pleasant's own words, then answers questions in character.
After a quick change, she then appears as herself to answer the audience's
questions. Says Dr. Bibbs, "It's fun, participatory history,
designed for adults and teens." This is the same presentation
that is excerpted in Bibbs' award-winning PBS film on Pleasant --
Meet Mary Pleasant, Mother of Civil Rights, but it has not been featured
in the Bay Area since the films were released on PBS.
Mary Ellen Pleasant’s dramatic life encompassed slavery, abolition,
the gold rush and the Civil War. She helped shaped early San Francisco
and amassed a joint fortune once assessed at $30 million dollars!
Pleasant assisted the abolitionist John Brown and is remembered in
a San Francisco memorial as the Mother of Civil Rights in California.
Dr. Susheel Bibbs, for many years a lecturer at UC Berkeley, holds
a Ph.D. in Communications and is an award-winning independent filmmaker.
For more on Dr. Bibbs' films, on Pleasant, and on this event, see
www.mepleasant.com, or call the Main Library’s Information Desk
at (510) 577-3971
Online flyer link: http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/library/news/details.asp?NewsID=212&TargetID=22
More to come!!
MEET MARY PLEASANT (Mother of Civil Rights) has now been broadcast
on 44% of all PBS stations and in Canada (2008-2010) and won a 2010
Gold Kahuna Award for Filmmaking Excellence from the Honolulu International
Film Festival. Why not give a copy as a gift or donate a copy to a
library or school?
This year's version contains bonus material! (click the SHOP tab)
ARCHIVED
NEWS
--2009
Nov. 1, 3 pm, 2009
Screening of MEET MARY PLEASANT and talk by Susheel Bibbs: Holiday
Inn Express, Elk Grove, CA (near Sacramento off Hwy 99) -- See Schedule
for more detail. DVD's and books will be on sale.
MEET MARY PLEASANT IS
GETTING RAVE REVIEWS -- NOW ON DVD.
TAKE A LOOK --
http://www.amazon.com/Pleasant-Mother-Civil-Rights-California/product-reviews/B001OI36K8/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt_sr_5?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addFiveStar
MEET MARY PLEASANT
NOW ON DVD and on AMAZON.COM !! -new low pricing
Visit the store to order your copy of MEET MARY PLEASANT without bonus
material for only $19.95. Soon the film will also be available on
Amazon.com for On-demand purchase and digital download. Look for it.
Oh, and if you like the film, please write a "sterling"
review on the Amazon site. Thanks!
= Want the Film only? Click here or visit our shop
to order: The
film without bonus material
= Film with bonus interviews? -includes Louis DeCaro,
Jr., Jean Libby, Mama Lola, Gwen Robinson, and others. Click here
or visit our shop to order:
www.kviestore.org
BIBBS has
resumed LIVE Chautauquas! BOOK NOW
Did you catch this one? Feb. 18 at San Diego City College -- Saville
Theatre, 11:10 am, San Diego contact: Julie
Kitterman-- jkitterm@sdccd.edu. To book your chautauqua,
email mepleasant1@yahoo.com
SCREEN THE FILM at
your school, college, or organization event
Susheel Bibbs is currently touring with the film followed by a special
Q & A. Other events can be scheduled around the screening as well:
a PowerPoint lecture, traveling exhibit, and chautauqua "how
to" workshop. To schedule a screening for your College, Museum,
or organization, email mepleasant1@yahoo.com
IN 2009
OLD NEWS -- STILL GOOD!
MEET MARY PLEASANT
now on PBS nationally once again this year. Have your local station
carry it.
WHY NOT GET THE NOTES?
Don't forget, scholars notes and bibliography are available
for Bibbs' social history on Pleasant -- Heritage of Power --by emailing
mepleasant1@yahoo.com
IN 2008
Bibbs wins best director award!
On June 25 Dr. Bibbs received top directing honors -- BEST DIRECTOR
OF A DOCUMENTARY (of any type) at the awards ceremony held by New
York International Independent Video and Film Festival. -a special
surprise
MEET MARY PLEASANT is an HBFF Finalist
The film was an official finalist at the "Sundance of black film"
--The Hollywood Black Film Festival in Beverly Hills, June 08.
MEET MARY PLEASANT screens at Cannes!
ITN Distribution took MEET MARY PLEASANT to screen in May 08 at the
renowned Cannes Film Festival (Marche du Film) in France -- one of
only five of their hundreds of films on sale there. Dr. Bibbs was
on hand and the film was well received.
MEET MARY PLEASANT screens at the African
Marketplace in LA!
Follow up from the Cannes screening has placed the film in the "Cinema
After Dark Showcase" outdoors at the AFRICAN MARKETPLACE AND
CULTURAL FAIRE held in LA August between Aug 16 and Sept. 1. Check
the screening time on their site after Aug. 1 at www.africanmarketplace.org/event.htm
AfricanMarketplace Amphitheatre, 8:15pm each nightFirst AME Church
and The African American Museum in LA will be community sponsors --
more to come
In St. Louis. KETC-TV teamed up with the Missouri History Museum
to present a public screening and an airing of MEET MARY PLEASANT.
The FREE screening was June 12, 7 pm. at the MO History Museum; Susheel
was there, and a fine audience showed! The film then aired on KETC-TV
(Ch. 9) on Sunday, July 6 at 9:30pm. Great event.
MEET MARY PLEASANT now on PBS nationally
(distributor, NETA ) --The film is airing all over the
country on PBS. Check local listings for times. If you don't see it,
ask your local PBS-station programming director to carry it. Here
are some CA upcoming air dates - (one hour)
In 2007
- MEET MARY PLEASANT Wins Two Film Festival
Awards
MEET MARY PLEASANT, the performance documentary on Mary Ellen Pleasant
by Susheel Bibbs, screened in two well-known film festivals this Fall.
There are two versions of this TV documentary -- the Educator's version
(41:28 min.) and the TV version for PBS (56:46 min.) both won separate
awards. The PBS (long) version won BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY in
their LA (Hollywood) venue where it screened in The New York International
Independent Film Festival (LA).
The short version won BEST OF FESTIVAL (Peace Reel Medallion) DOCUMENTARY
in The Berkeley Film and Video Festival, Berkeley, CA. Kudos to technical
and production professionals who helped Dr. Bibbs create these works
Three Versions of the film available
on this site
Dr. Bibbs acclaimed performance as Pleasant (based
on Pleasant's own words) has been interwoven into three TV performance
documentaries that reveal Pleasant's story and her most important
civil-rights contributions!!
No. 1 is the one-hour version PBS version
with or without bonus interviews -- MEET MARY PLEASANT (Mother of
Civil Rights in CA) $24.95 or $19.95. Take a look at our store. -narrated
by award-winning actress Ruby Dee.
-Film only, click here or visit our shop: The
film without bonus material
-Bonus interview version includes ideas from Louis
DeCaro, Jr., Jean Libby, Mama Lola, Gwen Robinson, and others. Click
here:
www.kviestore.org
No. 2 is a 41-minute version for teachers
($19.95), called MEET MARY PLEASANT and also narrated by award-winning
actress Ruby Dee. It employs East Coast, West Coast, and Canadian
history and scholars as they pertain to Pleasant's story and puts
it all in context -- abolition, Underground Railroad, Civil Rights,
her precedent-setting court battle. Order this one on this site under
"our shop"
No. 3 is a 26:46 min.version ($14.95) called
THE LEGACY OF MARY ELLEN PLEASANT, narrated by Akiba Howard. Created
for Viewfinder, a Sacramento PBS series, it is fast-paced
look at Pleasant that focuses primarily on her great court battle
in Sacramento, which altered modern-day civil rights-- includes only
California scholars. Order this one on this site under "our shop"
MEET
M.E.P. Archive --Scholars take note
This
three-DVD archive on Pleasant documents and gives context for Dr.
Bibbs work and chautauqua and features documentary evidence, commentary
by noted scholars of the US and Canada, photos, and sequences on areas
of controversy surrounding Pleasant's life. Visit AAMLO, TheAfrican
American Museum and Library, 659 14th St. Oakland, CA to view and
use it.
MEP
Historic Sites
Mary Pleasant's gravesite at Tulocay Cemetery in Napa, CA, is now
part of the National Parks Service's Network-to- Freedom Program.
The
trees at Bush and Octavia Streets, San Francisco, are now becoming
San Francisco landmarks.
BOOK
NOW!
Susheel is now
booking her one-woman presentations of Pleasant's life for 2007-2008--
contact mepleasant1@yahoo.com
for
bookings--dates still available.
=Dr.
Bibbs' new book, which will solve the mysteries of Pleasant's life
is slated for 2009! Watch for it.
Susheel
offers master classes on the spiritual
Susheel was one of the first people honored with a Spirituals
Heritage Keepers Award by the Friends
of Negro Spirituals of Oakland, CA. The award ceremony has now become
an annual event. Currently Susheel is in demand for masterclasses
on the spiritual and has just presented in Hawaii. She now has a booklet
available on performing the spiritual. Send for a copy
For more information on the awards, contact: Sam Edwards -- sedwards@stanford.edu----
To book or get information about the chautauqua programs or exhibit
here, or for any other inquiries just email us at mepleasant1@yahoo.com
Archived News
