Paa Ya Paa Screening Films of Black History: Black History Month

Partnering with USIU (United States International University), Paa Ya Paa is screening films on the subject matters of slavery to Mandela. Every Saturday from the 8th of February to the 1st of March, Paa Ya Paa will host a program to illustrate the cross-continental connections of the African people.

While Kenya celebrated the 50th anniversary of independence at the end of 2013, the United States is reaching the 50th anniversary of one of the landmark Civil Rights Act as well as the 60th for the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education. In honour of Black History Month, Paa Ya Paa Arts Centre wishes to capture the “mutually influencing synergy” between both sides of the Atlantic.

The art collective observes the American Civil Rights Movement was part of a world-wide human rights movement. By the time Martin Luther King Jr. gave his world famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, colonized people from Kenya to Singapore to Cyprus gained independence from British rule.

Through art, dialogue, and film, the art centre will elucidate the struggles of both the people of African as well as their descendants in America. All films but MAAFA 21 (2009) were released in 2013, with of course the Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o making her American film debut in 12 Years a Slave.

 

FILM SCHEDULE

FEBRUARY 8, 2014 – 4:00 p.m. 12 YEARS A SLAVE

FEBRUARY 15, 2014 – 4:00 p.m. MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM

FEBRUARY 22, 2014 – 4:00 p.m. Lee Daniels’ THE BUTLER

MARCH 1, 2014 4:00 p.m. MAAFA 21

 

Paa Ya Paa Arts Centre is located off of Kiambu Road, between the Northern Bypass Road and Karura Forest. During discussions and dialogues, the program highly encourages participation. Entry: Free

 

By Colin Smith