Cassandra Wilson’s “You Move Me” appears on the soundtrack to the 1997 film Love Jones. The jazz singer’s nuanced lower register projected an earthy desire that matched the movie’s bohemian aesthetic and love story. Lyrics describing trembling thighs and eyes blinded by rainfall captured the quintessence of romantic love with poetic virtue. Wilson guided every note of “You Move Me” as the writer, producer and performer of the song. Her voice soothed in its appeal to the senses with soulful intonations acknowledging a primal love.  “You Move Me” was exclusive to the soundtrack and the most favored of the three jazz songs on the compilation that is often cited as one of the most admired of the decade.  Cassandra Wilson released her 19th studio album Coming Forth By Day in 2015. In 2022, Wilson became a recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship.

Brianna Devons’s On The Line is a short film about suicide and mental health in Black communities. The budding filmmaker from Los Angeles took her personal experiences and co-wrote a script with business partner Lamar Usher to confront a topic usually ignored by minorities and the masses.  Rheeda Walker, who is a professor of psychology and director of the University of Houston’s Culture, Risk and Resilience Lab shared research this year revealing that suicide rates have increased after the pandemic for young African-Americans. Devons felt it was necessary to take the challenges her brother has faced with mental health to educate the public but to also use the film as her own personal meditation. On The Line has been seen at numerous film festivals to great applause and is currently being screened by Academy members to be voted on and subsequently nominated for the 2023 Oscars. The director and screenwriter took some time out to speak with Kick Mag about On The Line, her Royale Coalition production company she co-founded with Usher, and their next projects.  

Follow Brianna Devons and Royale Coalition at their Official Site and Instagram. Find out more about the Minority Psychology Network here. Suicide Prevention Resources. 

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