Andrea Kalin from
Spark Media joined in on an all women's interfaith dialogue at the
Rumi Forum in Washington, where women from various religious backgrounds -- Michelle Coghill Chatman (Yoruba), Kadiatou Diallo (Muslim), Pat Henry (Buddhist), Chaplin Gladys Lanier (Christian), and Andrea Kalin (Jewish) -- shared their spiritual journey and discussed the lack of representation of women and religious and spiritual content in the media. The event doubled as a "friendraiser" for the television program, Perspectives of Interfaith, taped and aired on
Arlington Independent Media, Arlington,VA and soon to be on DCTV, Montgomery Television, CTV in Prince George's County, and several other national public cable access stations.
In a small world moment, Andrea met Kadiatou Diallo, who mentioned how much she enjoyed a movie called
Prince Among Slaves, since it described her homeland Guinea. She was especially impressed with the film's historic accuracy and the emphasis on the pivotal role education played in 18th Century Futa Jallon (in modern day Guinea). Kadiatou had never met Andrea, who was also a speaker at the event. Someone pointed out that the director of
Prince Among Slaves was on the panel. And then the plot thickened: when Spark Media couldn't get to Guinea to film for Prince Among Slaves, Spark Media met a director of a documentary called
Death of Two Sons, who graciously allowed us to use some of his Guinea stock footage. Death of Two Sons is about Kadiatou's son, Amadou Diallo, who's controversial shooting death at the hands of four New York City police officers in 1999 is documented in the film. It was an astonishing moment for everybody.
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