The Nahmias Cipher Report

We must not define ourselves by freedom from religion, from abuse, from rape, from derision. From societal norms, from conformance, from acceptable compliance. From race, from the accident of geographical happenstance of birth or of life whether lived extraordinarily or pedestrian, with unsung aplomb, or within the rarefied strata of the new minted pantheon of ‘celebrity’ deities.

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-Chief Last Modified: 14:14 PM EDT, 25 January 2012 NIGERIA – Lagos is one of the most populace cities in Africa. It is also the seat of the Nigerian film industry which began in 1992 and is known as Nollywood. It is the third largest film industry in the world after India’s Bollywood [...]

A truly powerful movie that is metaphoric and profound on so many levels. Words fail to capture the depth of longing portrayed by the principal character of this film who is the veritable “everyman” calling out to the great unknown for guidance, support, and assistance. As an artist and a deeply spiritual person the other worldliness and mysticism experienced by the characters in this film transcend man made boundaries to emote true connection to the “unseen” that binds us all.

In a time of deep divides along geographical, political and religious lines, it is important for people to remember that ultimately these factions and the resultant conflicts have been a facet of humanity since its beginning. Therefore, we should not define ourselves by this our greatest failing, instead we should strive to identify the communality of our experiences, our humanity, and our intrinsic need to understand from whence we came and to where we return.

Weyni Mengesha, is an award winning director who has produced and directed performances of her work all across Canada, as well as in New York and London. This young and dynamic Habesha Nesh has big dreams some of which have been realized and others that are even now materializing because of her inner confidence, courage and dedication to following her truth.

Mengesha is one of the founding artists of Sound the Horn (STH). In addition to serving the local community the organization also chose to focus on raising awareness about the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS has been most severe in sub-Saharan countries. “At the end of 2009, there were 9 countries in Africa where more than one tenth of the adult population aged 15-49 was infected with HIV.

In an interview with the author which is currently broadcasting on Radio Netherlands Worldwide, a song plays in the background that her mother listened to during their travails. Many listeners inquired about the name of the singer and the song; and in response we have posted a video of Mrs. Mahalia Jackson from the famous movie “Imitation of Life.”

Famed Lena Horne died yesterday at age 92. An iconic figure in Hollywood and on stage, Lena Horne was a pioneer who forced the film industry to evaluate casting African-American women in roles other than stereotypically safe and culturally preferred maids and ‘mammies’. Blazing the trail in presegregration America, Ms. Horne used her intellect, talent and ambition to forge a career that spanned six-decades. Ms. Horne was an extremely talented and accomplished vocalist, and one of the first African-American actresses to sign a significant contract with a major studio. She continued to break barriers through her marriage to a Jewish conductor and bandleader Lennie Hayton in 1947. This was a bold move at a time when miscegenation laws were on the books in 30 states.

“In the United States, the various state laws prohibited the marriage of whites and blacks, and in many states also the intermarriage of whites with Native Americans or Asians. In the U.S., such laws were known as anti-miscegenation laws. From 1913 until 1948, 30 out of the then 48 states enforced such laws. Miscegenation was finally ruled unconstitutional 12 June 1967 through the case Loving vs. the State of Virginia effectively ending legal enforcement of this practice nationwide.

Much has been written about our world, man’s adverse impact on the planet, and what needs to be done to save Earth. No doubt as our species continues to advance, our expansion and incursion into the remaining pristine corners of our planet will accelerate as we seek illusory security through the treasures the earth can yield to us. However, unlike our planet, our lifespan is akin to that of a flea, and like a dog with an itch, we will voluntarily or involuntarily be cast off.

This perspective was best expressed by Dr. Iain Stewart’s in the 2009 BBC program titled “Earth: The Power of the Planet.” Dr. Stewart stated “in the long run, earth can cope with anything we can throw at it. We could clear all the jungles, but a jungle can regrow over a few thousand years. We could burn all earths’ fossil fuels, flooding the atmosphere with carbon dioxide but even then, it will take the planet only a million years or so for the atmosphere to recover even the animals we are wiping out will eventually be replaced by others equally rich in diversity as a relentless work of evolution continues. It’s only a question of time; the earth will be just fine. So all this stuff about saving planet earth, well that is not the problem: planet earth doesn’t need saving, earth is a great survivor. It’s not the planet we should be worrying about, it’s us.”

Not withstanding that powerful sentiment, this post is tangentially about environmental issues, but primarily about the brilliant, contemporary composers Armand Amar and Philip Glass. Both of these composers possess unparalleled skills in weaving together the unique voices, languages and cultures of people around the world to tell compelling stories through film scores.

As the daughter of a militant extremist, I understand the unique pressures of people who are caught in the cycle of fanaticism and hate. So many times, people on the outside are quick to judge and condemn everyone associated with the radical without carefully considering the associated individual’s role in the drama. Extremism and fanaticism is 100% fatal and infects everyone within its proximity; however, it is particularly pernicious for the children, spouses and family members. It is these people who die slowly from presumed culpability, ostracization, and shame in the intervening years following the catalyst ‘s disappearance either by fleeing or perishing in a blaze of glory.

Contrary to popular conception, the descent into radicalism occurs over time and is usually the result of a string of small but seminal events. Whereas homicide bombers are recruited because of their lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and housing, etc. and are therefore easily manipulated, they are nothing more than weapons yielded by the extremist visionary who deploys them. They are no more than automatons who have been programmed with a set of instructions for which they lack any ability to decipher much less rebel against. For the purposes of this post, the focus is on the titular head of a fanatical, radical or extremists movement. These men, and sometimes women, are intelligent, highly educated, and usually come from good families.

Lady Gaga is an interesting phenomena whose theatrical and satirical music videos offer an insightful commentary on and parody of America’s wanton sexuality, consumerism and self-absorbed showmanship. Even the ambiguity of her sex and sexuality contribute to effectiveness of her appeal as an extraordinarily marketable performance artist. As a consequence of several comments from readers, it should be noted that this critique of Lady Gaga is limited to the video “Paparazzi,” as I am unfamiliar with the rest of her work.