CALIFORNIA HUMANITIES

The generosity of Bay Area Foundations and individuals has kept the film going these past three and a half years. 2011 has been our best fundraising year to date. In March, we received our largest grant - a coveted and prestigious one - from the California Council for the Humanities for $30,000. The grant greatly improves our chances with large national funders. It's also allowed us to hire a bilingual assistant editor, Melissa Elbirt, who has begun the massive job of organizing, translating, and transcribing the footage. Matt Baldwin, Co-Editor, began in mid-July and Diana Brodie will begin August 12th.

HUMANITIES ADVISORS

Mr. Roscoe Lynell Bryant, Jr.  

Roscoe Bryant was an undefeated wrestler from 1976-1978 and Varsity High School (Mansfield, Ohio) Senior Class President, Class of 1981.   U.S. Army 1981-1984.  Moved to S.F. in 1984, pursued a career in Business Management from 1984-1996.   Mr. Bryant has attended City College S.F.,  Laney College in Oakland, and College of Alameda.  For the past 15 years, he has been teaching life skills to adults with disabilities, for which he has received numerous awards and commendations.  He’s also worked as a summer school teacher, after school teacher, after school Program Director, teacher’s Assistant, and Mentor.   He has mentored youth on a volunteer basis for over 20 years, often volunteering 20-30 hours per week.  With his wife, Lehi Bryant, Mr. Bryant co-founded the Oakland Royals Baseball team in 2005, for kids in their neighborhood, Ghost Town.   Today, there are five Oakland Royals Teams, for youth ages 7-15.   “Coach Roscoe,” as he is known in the community, is taking the Royals positive message of team work, peace, and achievement to inner city communities across the State of California.   Mr. Bryant is currently a single father, raising his his 3 children, Ralannah Cheyenne Bryant, Roscoe Bryant III, Reuel Bryant.

Professor Michael Messner

Michael Messner is Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California. He has written extensively on sports, race, masculinity, and the player-coach relationship as a conduit for culture. Prominent among his eleven books, are: It’s All for the Kids: Gender, Families, and Youth Sports, University of California Press, 2009; Power at Play: Sports and the Problem of Masculinity, Beacon Press, 1992. He currently serves as president of the Pacific Sociological Association.

Professor Sandra Smith

In 2004, Sandra Susan Smith joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley as an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology.  From 1998 to 2000, she was a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan's Poverty Research and Training Center.

Smith's research interests include urban poverty, joblessness, race and ethnicity, and social networks. Her new book is Lone Pursuit: Distrust and Defensive Individualism among the Black Poor (Russell Sage Foundation, 2010).  Her current project, is tentatively titled Why Blacks Help Less.  Smith has published articles in such journals as the American Journal of Sociology, Racial and Ethnic Studies, Social Science Research, and The Sociological Quarterly.

Minister Marvin Webb

Marvin Webb was raised in Richmond, CA, where he currently resides. Following a baseball career as a semi-professional player, Webb earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities from New College of San Francisco, a Master of Arts in Physical Education from St. Mary’s College, and a Doctorate from East Bay Theological Seminary.  Webb is now head baseball coach for Contra Costa Community College and assistant Pastor at Peniel Full Gospel Baptist Church.