Reading of Omari Newton's "Sal Capone" at SlamFete

The third annual SlamFete will take place from February 25th - 27th in Vancouver.  This event is part of African Heritage Month and will feature thematic performances from local artists. SlamFete "...is a unique event for African, Aboriginal and other cultural minorities to find and share a voice."

 

There are many great performances and workshops slated for the three-day event, with things kicking off  on the 25th with a staged reading of Sal Capone, a play written Omari Newton, who is also a young actor. The reading will feature DJ Mana and lots of other cool effects, all adding to what will be a wonderful reading. I had the opportunity to catch up with Newton to discuss the story behind Sal Capone and his thoughts on the relationship between youth, media and law enforcement.

 

YT: What first got you interested in acting and how old were you when you started?

ON: I’m going way back now, but I played Joseph in a church play when I was like six I think.  So I just went to this United Church and just had an audition and they casted me as Joseph and I was hooked and have been an actor ever since.

 

YT: How did the idea for Sal Capone come about?

ON: The idea for Sal Capone came about because I’m from Montreal and a couple of years ago, there was shooting that happened where a police officer shot an unarmed kid named Fredy Villanueva. And what happened was his friends organized to have like a protest or rally, and it quickly like spiraled and turned into a riot.  So I have met quite a few cops in my life - actually one of my best friend’s is a cop - and I know that police don’t go around shooting people for fun. So I wanted to write a play that gave like objective and fair examination of how those things happen.
 
YT: Is there any significance with the title of Sal Capone?

ON: Sal Capone is a play on words of Al Capone, the famous gangster. And it’s kind of like my way to make an allusion or hint at why, like the hip-hop culture is totally obsessed with gangsters, and being hardcore and living an illegal lifestyle, which obviously would put you in odds with the police.  So I’m just trying to examine why the hip-hop culture is so obsessed with gangsters. And I think that’s one of the main reasons why there’s the tensions between a lot youth and police because it glamorizes hip hop lifestyle that they see on TV.

YT: How do you feel mainstream media negatively portrays youth and hip-hop culture what affect does that have society?

ON: I feel like mainstream media does, to some extent have a negative betrayal of hip hop, but I don’t feel like hip hop is an innocent bystander.  There’s a lot of really ignorant hip hop out there. I think that, unfortunately, what’s sad is that the positive stuff doesn’t get as much airplay because it doesn’t sell as much so the media covers what’s popular which happens to be the negative, kind of materialistic style of hip hop.  So I don’t [completely] blame the media. What I blame them for is the lack of effort or ambition in trying to find the positive hip hop out there because it's definitely out there.

YT: What is your view on the portrayal and treatment of Aboriginal and African youth in the media?

ON: I guess it depends on what media. Again, there are a lot of problems in Aboriginal communities.  And their not all to blame for the problems; I know that there’s a lot of alcoholism on reserves and abuse and if you look at the issue of First Nations people they once were jerked around quite a bit.  Some of those effects still kind of hang over them and affect them today.  As far as other minorities, it’s tough.  I’m black myself and it can be tough being a visible minority especially when you’re young and not that many people look like you.  You look to TV or music for heroes and if those role models that you choose don’t lead you in the right direction, they can lead you into trouble.  Again, I don’t ever blame the media. I don’t think that the media has an agenda to demonize black people or First Nations people.  Again, I just think very often it is an easy story to cover because you have to dig a little deeper to find the many positive things happening in those communities.
 
YT: The Friday reading of Sal Capone will feature DJ Mana and is filled with experimental sound and video. How do you feel these other elements enhance the story and the message you are trying to communicate through the play?

ON: I don’t watch that much theatre myself, and I’m an actor (chuckles), so that tells you something, right?  I’ll go see a play if my friends are in it or if a story really grabs me. I think what my play brings in particular DJ Mana and the sound design is we’re trying to bring something fresh to the genre of theatre.  A lot of people have associations of theater being like Shakespeare and this really historical kinda boring experience. But my play is going to have a DJ scratching records, some MCing and spoken word and I was just trying to bring some freshness and innovation and hip hop to the theatre that exists kind of in New York and the east coast but not so much in Vancouver, so I’m just trying to bring some of that out here.

 

YT: What do you feel are the biggest obstacles preventing youth and police from reaching a common understanding and being able to work with each other?

ON: Well, I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding on both sides. If you’re a police officer who comes from a community where there is not many black people and not many First Nations people and your only image of these people comes from the media (as we discussed before), we might have a skewed view of what those people are like and how to interact with them. Similarly, if you come from a community where you don’t know any police officers like you don’t have any in your family or none of your friends are police officers and all you know is the images you’re getting from hip-hop music or movies about corrupt police officers, then there is some misunderstanding on your part too. If we just build more links between the two communities it would dispel a lot of the myths that both sides have. Actually, at the reading, what we’re trying to do after is trying to have a talk back between youth and police, and lawyers and social workers like a town hall where a bunch of different groups who don’t normally get to talk have a chance to interact with each other. Not that my play is going to fix teen, police relations, but it is a positive step in the right direction.

 

YT: What do you hope teens take away from Sal Capone?

ON: I hope that teens take away that things aren’t black and white. I hope that they take away from it that they have power, especially now with social networking, you know through Facebook or whatever other social networks, that youth have power to mobilize themselves and to make their voice be heard. If they get those two messages that things aren’t black and white and like not all police officers are evil and they have power amongst themselves, I would be very, very happy.

 

YT: What do you hope law enforcement and the mainstream media who listen to your reading will learn?

ON: I hope that law enforcement and main stream media that come to see my play question the decisions they make when they're doing their jobs. I hope that reporters think what’s the root cause of the story and not just report on what they see and look deeper into it. Like why are these things happening and not just what’s happening?  Personally I hope that there’s a lot of debates happening. I don’t want a police officer come to see the play and be insulted and think that they are being demonized and I don’t want any youth to see the play and feel like the cops are the main heroes. I want people to come see it and see discussion and think that there is a balanced debate going on.

 

YT: Do you feel Canada does a good enough job of celebrating and promoting the arts and talents of those belonging to cultural minorities?

ON: That’s a tough one to answer because again, as a black artist, I have been really, really blessed in my career in that I have been awarded several grants from the Canadian government. Like we have the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council and the Spirit Festival where there is money and funding and support available to minority artists if they seek it out.  And I have also been lucky in that I have been apart of the union since I was 19 years old, and I have had mentors who worked within the system that can drive me and tell me how to get grants.  So I think that resources are available to minorities in Canada to get their work out there.  I think they could do a better job with promoting how to actually get those resources to communities to people who don’t know otherwise.  

 

YT: Why do you feel it is so important to have events like Slamfete and why should youth attend the event? 

ON: I think it is important because we have this great wealth of culture in Canada.  In my completely biased opinion, Canada is, if not the best country of the world; it is one of the best countries in the world and rarely do we get to see our diversity celebrated.  So events like this gives everyone a chance for everyone to be like, "oh cool I live in a rad country that is made up of a bunch of cultures and ethnicities," and we are cool with that in Canada. And really celebrating the diversity that exists in Canada.

Make sure to check out the reading of Sal Capone featuring Omari Newton and DJ Mana on February 25th at Ironworks Studio in Vancouver. Tickets are $10 at the door. More info at urbanink.ca

 

Don't forget about the rest of the events at SlamFete:

*There is a special $20 weekend rate for youth!

 

Crossroads Slam!

Saturday, February 26th

The CrossRoads Slam celebrates the black roots of hip-hop performance and its evolution in today’s intercultural landscape.

Tickets are $20 at the door

 

Bold Skool Hip Hop Workshop

Sunday, February 27th

Bold Skool Hip Hop Workshop is a full day of youth-focused workshops drawing on the themes in Sal Capone that explore how the cultural elements of hip-hop can be used for social change.