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In conversation with young Ghanian American filmmaker Opoku | Q & A on “Apple Cider” - part two
Anthony Orlando
In conversation with young Ghanian American filmmaker Opoku | Q & A on “Apple Cider” - part two
Anthony Orlando

Newark, NJ - In Part 1 of our interview with Newark native and Howard University filmmaker Opoku “OpotheBoat” Boateng, we sat down with Set Designer Lillian “Phoenyx” Ojo, and Gaffer and Sound Mixer, Isaiah “Konté” Conte. Together, the trio discussed their goals and approach in developing their first 20-minute short film, "Apple Cider - A Parable of Black Love", a character-driven drama that explores ideas of Black love as three youths face their shared family trauma.

For Part 2 of our interview, Opoku stuck around with Phoenyx to reveal more about himself as an artist and upcoming work with their production company,Opo’s Canon. They also shared the challenges they faced making “Apple Cider,” the lessons they learned about themselves and each other during the production, and what film and storytelling mean to them as young artists living in New Jersey.

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Anthony Orlando

News Poem

Featured
1A
Talena Lachelle Queen
1A
Talena Lachelle Queen

There is no comfort at thirty thousand feet on a teacher's salary.

The rows are segregated like the country:

according to race -- which is also socio economic status

I look like seat 1A wearing my

$10 jeans and a had- to- have-this sweater.

All of the rich people in my front row seats 

smile at me when I stroll pass.

The middle class people in the middle add a wave to their smile like we are family 

even though my people are shot for being black like the guy in the news today whose name we will certainly forget even though he was shot at work-- a security guard-- by the police after he had done the tremendous job of stopping the gun wielding bad guy in the club

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Talena Lachelle Queen

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Latest Articles

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The DOE’s final bell? What’s next for NJ schools?
Ishani Bakshi
The DOE’s final bell? What’s next for NJ schools?
Ishani Bakshi

Newark, NJ – The Trump administration’s recent executive order proposing the termination of the U.S. Department of Education (DoEd) has reignited debates on the role of federal oversight in education. While proponents argue that eliminating the DoEd would return power to states, critics warn of severe disruptions to funding, policy implementation, and equity in education. In New Jersey, where federal funding supplements state aid, the effects of Trump’s action could be profound.

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Ishani Bakshi
Featured
US immigration policy impacting Asian students in NJ
Ishani Bakshi
US immigration policy impacting Asian students in NJ
Ishani Bakshi

Newark, NJ - When six Asian international students at Rutgers University found their student statuses abruptly terminated in April 2024, they were left in legal limbo. Represented by the ACLU of New Jersey, the Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project, and attorneys from the Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest and Constitutional Law, the students challenged the terminations in federal court—and won a preliminary injunction on May 8, 2025, in the United States District Court of New Jersey.

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Ishani Bakshi
Featured
In conversation with young Ghanian American filmmaker Opoku | Q & A on “Apple Cider”
Anthony Orlando
In conversation with young Ghanian American filmmaker Opoku | Q & A on “Apple Cider”
Anthony Orlando

Newark, NJ - Opoku “OpotheBoat” Boateng is a Ghanaian-American filmmaker who recently released his first 20-minute short film, "Apple Cider - A Parable of Black Love". Released on YouTube on March 10th, 2025, “Apple Cider” was written and directed by Opoku, who also stars as one of its three main characters. The film centers around a young trio who struggle to reconnect as a family as their shared family traumas continue to take root in the present.

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Anthony Orlando
Featured
Now’s the time for some of that ‘American Exceptionalism’
Joe Maniscalco
Now’s the time for some of that ‘American Exceptionalism’
Joe Maniscalco

New York, NY - If you’re of a certain age and grew up around here, you probably remember a time when you could look back at people in Germany during World War II and innocently wonder how the heck they could have allowed fascism to overtake their country. Sadly, those naive days are long gone for all of us—because everyone in America now knows exactly how it happens. 

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Joe Maniscalco

Community News

Community News
Breaking News | The people organized: Ras Baraka’s out!
Anthony Orlando
Breaking News | The people organized: Ras Baraka’s out!
Anthony Orlando

Newark, NJ - The arrest of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka grounded the current discussion on “citizenship and rights” after federal officers arrested him outside Delaney Hall on Friday, May 9th, only to be freed within hours that same day. Baraka was arrested and detained by ICE for allegedly trespassing at Delaney Hall in Newark.

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Anthony Orlando

From the Community

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NJ Abolition Workshops (April/May)
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