By Cara Jepsen
Novelist and performance artist Sapphire creates work that is gritty and realistic; in a recent short story in the New Yorker she offered aasdfg brutal account of a 15-year-old girl who’d been sexually abused by her father. The story was executed without cliches or condescension; the narrator’s distinct, colloquial voice matter-of-factly described unspeakable horrors. Sapphire will read from her new novel Push from 12:30 to 2:00 at the Afrocentric Bookstore, 234 S. Wabash. It’s free; call 939-1956.
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Bring up the Telecommunications Act at a party and you might get a lot of blank stares. But today’s town forum Telecommunications and Me? promises to demystify the new legislation. Representatives from the Chicago Public Library, Illinois Privacy Council, and Chicago Media Watch will sit on such panels as “Big Brother and the Internet,” “Universal Access: What’s in the Telecommunications Act for Schools, Libraries and Non-profits?,” and “Big Media Gets Bigger: The Telecommunications Act and Media Concentration.” The free forum is from 10 to 3 today in Columbia College’s Hokin Hall, 623 S. Wabash. 663-1600.
Tim Jackson sheds light on such issues as racism, media stereotyping, and double standards in the cartoon Things That Make You Go Hmm . . ., which appears in StreetWise and The Final Call. Many of his best cartoons are included in his new collection, Continuously Dis’d By the System. He’ll sign copies from 2 to 4 today at African American Images, 1909 W. 95th. It’s free; call 445-0322.
Canadian filmmaker Clement Vigo’s debut film, Rude, depicts the lives of three black characters, whose stories unfold over Easter weekend in Toronto. Luke is a recently paroled drug dealer and painter who tries to stay out of trouble, Jordan is a former gay basher coming to terms with his homosexuality, and Maxine is considering an abortion and coping with the loss of her lover. Rude is the name of the female pirate-radio DJ who narrates. Vigo, who was born in Jamaica but grew up in a Toronto housing project, mixes performance art, dance, narrative, and spoken word. This is the first Canadian feature written, directed, and produced by an all-black team. It screens tonight at 7 and 9 at Facets, 1517 W. Fullerton. Tickets are $7, $5 for members. Call 281-9075.
Like screen stars Arnold and Babe, most swine are intelligent and trainable. They are also fast runners. “All they need as an incentive is an Oreo cookie,” says Carlota Robinson, whose racing pigs will appear at the DuPage County Fair this week. The pigs take off today at 1:30, 3, 4:30, 6, 7, and 8 at the fairgrounds, 2015 W. Manchester, in Wheaton. Admission is $5. They’ll run six races a day through July 28. Call 708-668-6636, ext. 11, for more information.
