And now, a filmmaker.
Steele’s first film, “Listen! Please!” is an 18-minute documentary about systemic racism that will debut Monday on Facebook and YouTube. Starting with a simple definition of the term, it’s a series of interviews with four esteemed Minnesota Black elders. All moved here from the South and lived exemplary lives, helping to shape our community and beyond.
Mahmoud El-Kati – Steele calls him “a modern-day griot” – taught history at Macalester, wrote articles, essays and books about the Black experience and fought for social justice. Josie Johnson is a Minnesota civil rights icon who created the African American Studies department at the University of Minnesota and became the U’s first Black regent. Her memoir, “Hope in the Struggle,” came out in 2019 from the University of Minnesota Press.
Bill English is a founding member of the Northside Job Creation Team (NJCT), a former vice president at Control Data Corporation and co-founder of the Sabathani Community Center. Sallie Steele Birdsong is mother to six children including J.D. Steele. She has 17 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
El-Kati remembers a parrot in a corner store that had been taught to screech “N—– stealing!” Johnson spoke up as a teen when a salesperson called her mother a girl. English was stopped by police for driving while Black. At age 65, in her own neighborhood, Birdsong faced police with drawn guns and suffered a racist slur.
Steele had no plans to add filmmaker to his résumé. In July, not long after the killing of George Floyd, he was approached by his friend Peggy Winton, the founder of Pathways, a healing and wellness center.
It’s hard to make a film on a short timeframe in a pandemic. El-Kati lives in a care facility with COVID restrictions. Steele met Johnson outside the Dunn Bros. in Loring Park. He spoke with English on his deck and Birdsong at her home. Once the interviews were filmed, “my biggest challenge was I had five and a half hours of interviews to squeeze into 18 minutes. I could have done an hour on each person.”
“Listen! Please!” makes it clear that solving systemic racism is up to white people. But the film isn’t for white people only. “I have African American friends who have said to me, ‘I’m not quite sure if I understand what systemic racism is,’” Steele said. “That term is being bandied about quite a bit right now. I’m hoping this gives them some idea of what it is and how deeply rooted it is in our society. Hopefully, it will compel them to open up multicultural dialogues, because once people understand what it is, they can combat it.”
Steele is exploring ways to take his film beyond the internet, perhaps to public television and festivals. “I want everybody to see the film, so everybody can dialogue about it. Maybe get some school districts interested in sharing it with their high school students.”
Meanwhile, “Listen! Please!” will premiere on Monday, Feb. 8, at 6 p.m. on Facebook and YouTube. After the premiere, it will be available to view on demand. Donations will benefit the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis.
The picks
V is for virtual, L is for live and in person.
L Today (Thursday, Feb. 4): The Walker Art Center reopens. Members have first access to the galleries from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can check out the newest exhibition, “Low Visibility,” before anyone else. The galleries will open to the public from 5-9 p.m. Everyone must reserve a ticket online in advance. Follow COVID protocols.
V Starts Friday (Feb. 5): MN Opera: MNiatures. We can’t yet watch big operas on stage at the Ordway. But what about tiny operas on our devices? MN Opera commissioned original mini-operas, each 8-10 minutes long, from four pairs of Minnesota artists. It’s a diverse group. Each team received a $3,500 stipend, additional funding and support for singers and instrumentalists, and assistance from the MN Opera New Works team in developing their work. Friday’s world premiere will be “Dear America, Beat Your Heart Defiantly, Naked and Open With Love” by Rebecca Nichloson and Asoko Hirabayashi. New MNiatures will debut on Feb. 9, 12 and 16. FMI. Free on YouTube, Facebook and MN Opera’s website.
L Saturday (Feb. 6): The American Swedish Institute will reopen. With a brand-new, exciting exhibition called “Papier” by two Swedish artists from Stockholm, Bea Szenfeld and Stina Wirsén. Szenfeld’s paper couture has been worn by artists including Lady Gaga and Björk. The exhibition features a dozen of her wearable pieces plus an installation titled “Grief.” Wirsén’s drawings set the scene and act as backdrops. Everything is made by hand with scissors, pencils, pens, paper and staggering amounts of time. The show is about “being alive in the human body, about beauty, about aging, about flesh and bones, and paper. It’s a love story about handicraft.” It will also be a feast for hungry eyes. Speaking of feasts, FIKA, ASI’s famous restaurant, will also reopen. Timed reservations are required for the galleries. Hours 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Follow COVID protocols.