Activism
Louis Brody, the “Exotic” German
Born M’bebe Mpessa in the German colony of Cameroon, Louis Brody (1892–1951) won over audiences during the early twentieth century as a prominent actor and musician. He appeared in over 30 films and eventually became the highest-paid Black actor within the German filmmaking industry.
![Brody’s ability to survive during the Nazi era was considered “astonishing.” He was able to escape treatment common to non-Germans at that time: deportation, sterilization, mob lynching, and concentration camps.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/louis-brody-featured-web.jpg)
Born M’bebe Mpessa in the German colony of Cameroon, Louis Brody (1892–1951) won over audiences during the early twentieth century as a prominent actor and musician. He appeared in over 30 films and eventually became the highest-paid Black actor within the German filmmaking industry.
Brody’s ability to survive during the Nazi era was considered “astonishing.” He was able to escape treatment common to non-Germans at that time: deportation, sterilization, mob lynching, and concentration camps. When the Nazi government denationalized him through the 1935 Reich Citizenship Law, he avoided persecution by acquiring French citizenship.
Throughout his life, Brody fought to improve the social conditions in Germany. He cofound the African Relief Organization (1918) in Hamburg. As spokesman, he decried racial discrimination and the violence and mistreatment of Blacks.
His expressed views and opinions during the fight for racial equality led him to the German Section of the League for Defense of the Negro Race. Brody also protested the propaganda unleashed against French colonial soldiers stationed in the Rhineland after World War I. Still, he needed to support himself.
Brody played parts in several German propaganda films throughout the war period: African chiefs and stereotypical roles such as servants, porters, and sailors. During World War II, he starred in 14 films including two that, according to Brody’s critics, “advanced Nazi propaganda and were inherently anti-Semitic.” Yet Brody was a skilled and versatile actor.
In several films, he impersonated Arabs, Malays, Indians, Moroccans, and Chinese. In fact, his calling card read: “Performer of all exotic roles on the stage and in film.”
While performing as a musician and wrestler, photos of Brody “exuded the energy of exoticism and racism seen in his film career.” According to German publications, Brody “couldn’t simply be an actor, musician, or wrestler; he had to be a Black actor, musician, and wrestler.” His career as an actor therefore faced significant obstacles, specifically with the subsequent rise of Hitler and the Nazi regime.
Little has been recorded about his early life in Cameroon (then Kamerun). He attended the German colonial school in Douala, where he learned to speak German. It is believed that he arrived in Berlin sometime between 1907 and 1914. He reportedly worked at several odd and low-paying jobs before landing an acting role. What motivated him to relocate there remains unknown.
As the German film industry expanded post-war, Brody took on supporting roles, most notably in the 1921 film “The Weary Death.” He also played the villainous Moor in the 1926 colonial film “I Had a Comrade.” By 1930, he had become the most visible Black actor working in German cinema. But the rise of Nazism would curtail his career.
Brody’s career slowed post war. Still, his life of advocacy for Black Germans and fame in cinema paved the way for other Blacks to gather acclaim within German culture.
Read more about Black Germans during the Third Reich in “Other Germans: Black Germans and the Politics of Race, Gender, and Memory in the Third Reich,” by Tina M. Campt.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
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Activism
ICAC Invites Community to Benefit from Safe Car Park Program
The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold a meeting to announce a faith-based expansion of overnight safe car parking for unhoused families on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 1-2 p.m. at Williams Chapel Baptist Church located at 1410 10th Avenue in Oakland. The ICAC President, Rev. Ken Chambers, announced that Williams Chapel, pastored by Rev. Kenneth Anderson, and members of ICAC, has also planned to open an overnight safe car parking program and day center to provide unhoused neighbors and families with wrap-around services.
![Chambers said, "ICAC's goal is to just serve Oakland by helping to make the community surrounding 10th Avenue and International Boulevard both welcoming and safe."](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ICAC-homelessness-featured-web.jpg)
by Post Staff
The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold a meeting to announce a faith-based expansion of overnight safe car parking for unhoused families on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 1-2 p.m. at Williams Chapel Baptist Church located at 1410 10th Avenue in Oakland.
The ICAC President, Rev. Ken Chambers, announced that Williams Chapel, pastored by Rev. Kenneth Anderson, and members of ICAC, has also planned to open an overnight safe car parking program and day center to provide unhoused neighbors and families with wrap-around services.
Rev. Chambers said additional support for the program will also come from Bishop Bob Jackson, Pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church and Pastor Phyllis Scott, head of the Oakland Police Chaplaincy Program.
Chambers said, “ICAC’s goal is to just serve Oakland by helping to make the community surrounding 10th Avenue and International Boulevard both welcoming and safe.”
David Longhurst, a member of Oakland Temple LDS Church and an ICAC board member, said
“We can make the city of Oakland safer, one block at a time, by connecting our community and neighbors.”
Chambers said ICAC has a $450,000 grant commitment from the City of Oakland and a $2.5M grant request has been presented to Nate Miley, President of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Nate Miley to cover and expand ICAC’s Safe Car Park Program located at West Side Missionary Baptist Church to additional locations including Center Street Baptist Church, Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church, Corinthians Baptist Church, Allen Temple Baptist Church, Acts Full Gospel Church, and other congregations.
Dr. Ken Chambers said he and ICAC are assisting congregations on how to receive a one-time $5,000 grant. “ICAC has plans for several tiny homes with kitchens, living space and bathrooms that we hope will become available this fall in partnership with the State, County and City of Oakland.”
Chambers is appealing to the public to help with transitioning the unhoused populations into tiny homes or affordable housing. “If you or anyone you know is living out of a car and needs a safe place to park overnight, visit interfaithAC.org, call 510-239-6681, or stop by the ICAC hub at 732 Willow Street, Oakland, CA 94607 between the hours of 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.”
Activism
Calif. Leaders Discuss Foster Care Reform Strategies for Black and Brown Youth
Before becoming a nationally recognized social justice leader and a member of California’s Mandated Reporting Taskforce, Shane Harris spent 13 years as a foster care youth after he lost both of his parents. As President of the national civil rights organization, People’s Association of Justice Advocates (PAJA), he’s aiming to solve some of the toughest challenges Black and Brown children in the foster care system face.
![Shane Harris, PAJA President and member of the California Mandated Reporting Taskforce (center) with Hafsa Kaka, Senior Advisor on Homelessness to Governor Gavin Newsom and Dr. Janet Kelly, Founder & Director of Sanctuary of Hope LA (far right) (Lila Brown CBM)](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/fostercare-reform-featured-web.jpg)
By Lila Brown, California Black Media
Before becoming a nationally recognized social justice leader and a member of California’s Mandated Reporting Taskforce, Shane Harris spent 13 years as a foster care youth after he lost both of his parents. As President of the national civil rights organization, People’s Association of Justice Advocates (PAJA), he’s aiming to solve some of the toughest challenges Black and Brown children in the foster care system face.
During National Foster Care Month in May, Harris visited the Sanctuary of Hope in Los Angeles to host a roundtable meeting with current and former foster youth, many of whom, like Harris, have beat the odds and become successful professionals.
According to the federal government’s Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, there are nearly 370,000 American children and youth in foster care.
Nationally, Black children are overrepresented in foster care. According to datacenter.kidscount.org, Black children represented 14% of the total child population in the United States. However, they represented 23% of all children in foster care. Harris pointed out that one out of every four foster youth go homeless upon exiting foster care in California. Across the state, there are nearly 65,000 children in foster care, he added. Of the 65,000 children in foster care across California, 14,000 of them are Black American.
Harris also announced a new effort already underway to push for the removal of the term “case” in L.A. County when referring to foster youth during the roundtable which featured Hafsa Kaka, Senior Advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Janet Kelly, the Founder and Director of Sanctuary of Hope. The session focused on solving problems foster youth face.
Sharing personal stories, insights, and various visions for policy changes, the participants discussed numerous solutions and addressed specific concerns about ongoing challenges with the foster care system.
One top priority was how to close the foster care to homelessness pipeline for the disproportionate number of Black and Brown children in LA County’s and the state’s foster care system.
“When you see the direct connection between the disproportionate rates of Black children in foster care and the disproportionate rates of Black people in the general homeless population, there is a very clear connection there in which our foster youth are coming out of care,” stated Harris during opening remarks.
Kaka said the governor has been intentional about making sure that foster children are homeless prioritized as the state addresses homelessness.
“This is a critical moment for foster care,” said Kaka. “The systems that are working together are looking at leveraging federal, state and local funds.”
Harris said he has already begun efforts in San Diego County to drop the word “case” when referring to homeless youth.
“We are asking for a 90-day public input period, in which the county CEO and leadership can facilitate discussions with the community on replacement terminology. There’s plenty of ideas,” Harris elaborated.
Kelly said a majority of the youth who go through the Sanctuary of Hope program are young people who have experienced some form of housing instability or housing crisis.
“The goal of the work that we do is really centered around helping young people leave here with leadership skills and other forms of what we call protective factors in order for them to continue on with their stabilization journey and become loving, caring and active citizens in this world,” Kelly said.
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