W I T N E S S:
Tamara Payne’s Lecture with Elliott Bay Book Company
On Sunday November 15, Tamara Payne, co-author of The Dead are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X will be giving a virtual lecture hosted by Elliott Bay Book Company. Author and award-winning investigative journalist Les Payne began drafting this biography more than thirty years ago, conducting extensive interviews with anyone who had ever known Malcolm X. In 2018, after Les Payne passed away, his daughter Tamara, who’d previously served as the lead researcher for the project, finished the book in her father’s absence. The resulting 650 page work, nominated for this year’s nonfiction National Book Award, manages to differentiate itself from the countless other biographies of Malcolm X with its excruciatingly detailed background research, and subsequent source materials that provide fascinating new insights into the life of the mythic man. And while other recent biographies, notably Manning Marable’s Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, tend to portray him in perhaps a more sympathetic light, The Dead are Arising doesn’t hesitate to depict Malcolm X as complex and multifaceted, with his incisive, critical, and at-times vengeful spirit that forever shaped history. Payne’s talk is sure to shed light on how Malcolm X fought a fight that rages on today. Tickets for Payne’s lecture on Sunday, November 15 at 6pm are available here.
W A T C H:
An Arthouse Film at Tacoma Film Festival
Since its inception in 2006, the Tacoma Film Festival has garnered acclaim for bringing together an eclectic but expertly curated mix of avant-garde and more traditional films from independent filmmakers around the world. Hosted by The Grand Cinema, Tacoma’s small but mighty arthouse theater, this year’s edition will be online, but bigger than ever, with 120 films available for download now through Sunday Nov. 15. Gilda Sheppard's Since I Been Down is the festival centerpiece, a documentary that details the three-strikes law passed in Washington State in the early '90s that allowed persecutors to imprison youth for life. The film follows the path of a group of those prisoners who bravely pursue a course of healing that extends beyond prison walls. The full festival roster is available here, and tickets may be purchased individually for each screening.
T R Y:
A Winemaker Dinner at Home from Betz & The Butcher’s Table
Temperatures are dropping, and the allure of outdoor dining will soon be a distant memory. In case you are looking for something a little more novel than your standard to-go dinner fare, some Seattle restaurants are continuing to pivot in delightful ways. Enter The Butcher’s Table and their four-course virtual winemaker dinner, paired with distinctive wines from Betz Family Winery. Each course comes with an expertly paired wine, and a video of chef Morgan from The Butcher’s Table sharing tasting notes to go along with the wine pairings. You might almost think you were dining fireside at The Butcher’s Table with a sommelier serving wine straight from the cellar. Almost. The curated winemaker dinner, which comes with two appetizers, a main course, sides, wine, and dessert, serves two people and is available now through Nov. 21 for order here.