As 2014 comes to a close, we want to CONGRATULATE all of our BDC members who continue to make great strides in their work, and say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of our BDC friends who continue to support documentary filmmaking!  2014 has been one of long-awaited premieres, well-deserved accolades, and innovative activism and engagement.  Sadly, we've also lost friends and mentors this year, particularly the great Bill Greaves.  We miss you.  Thank you for everything.   Check out our not-nearly-complete visual montage of BDC's 2014 Year-In Review! From premieres, to broadcasts, awards, fundraisers--we tried to include them all.  If we missed something, know that we still love you :-) and email us a friendly reminder!  We're always happy to hear from you! The Black Documentary Collective (BDC) is a tax-exempt non-profit organization, so take advantage and join, renew, or make a tax-deductible donation!  We've got some surprises coming up in 2015, and we want you to be part of it all! * * * _______________________________________________ Monday, December 8, 2014 A Tribute to William Greaves Brooklyn Academy of Music December 11 - 15 Please join us for this much-deserved tribute to  our dear friend, supporter, mentor, and inspiration, independent filmmaker William Greaves.   Many thanks to BAM for putting it together. Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: TakeOne; Still A Brother; The Fight (click pix below for details and tickets) As part of Migrating Forms, BAMcinématek presents a selection of essential works by William Greaves, the seminal Emmy Award-winning chronicler of African-American life during the 1960s and 70s. Greaves died in August, leaving behind an incisive body of work ripe for rediscovery, and his rarely screened works include a rousing chronicle of Muhammad Ali and a candid examination of the black middle class. * * * The Price of Memory by Karen Mafundikwa Nominated for Best Film by a Woman of Color! African Diaspora  International Film Festival! Nov 28 - Dec 14 Quad Cinema, NYC  THIS Wednesday, December 10th, 7:20 PM Q&A with director Karen Mafundikwa Buy Tickets When Queen Elizabeth II visited Jamaica in 2002, she was petitioned by a small group of Rastafari for slavery reparations.  This timely, important film traces the Rastafarian petition and a reparations lawsuit against the Queen over a decade, into both the British and Jamaican parliaments, while interweaving stories of Rastas who pursued reparations in the 1960s. * * * BDC Community No!  Enough is Enough! Sadly, the list of petitions keeps getting longer.   But, let's keep supporting all the efforts being made in pursuit of justice. Click pix to sign colorofchange.org's petition #JusticeforEricGarner Enough is Enough!  Secure Justice for Mike Brown and Advance Police Reform We can Still Secure #JusticeForMikeBrown Click pix to sign MomsRising.org's Open Letter to Pres. Obama and AG Eric Holder Click pix to sign ColorofChange.org's Petition * * * BDC Oscar Updates Oscar Consideration for BDC Member and BDC Friends Films! DOCUMENTED, Through A Lens Darkly, Little White Lie, Time is Illmatic, Death Metal Angola The Hollywood Reporter:  134 Documentaries Qualify for Academy Consideration!   Click pix below for more info! Little White Lie Directed by Lacey Schwartz In Theatres Now! DOCUMENTED Directed by Jose Antonio Vargas Co-Produced & Edited by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon Through A Lens Darkly Directed by Thomas Allen Harris Produced by  Ann Bennett   Time is Illmatic One9, Erik Parker, Martha Diaz Death Metal Angola Jeremy Xido, Amanda Burr * * * BDC Member Benefits BDC and Frame:Runner Partnership!  Frame:Runner is a High Definition post-production facility specializing in color correction and finishing for broadcast television, festivals and theatrical distribution  They have worked on countless award-winning projects for BDC members, including Stanley Nelson's Freedom Summer and Thomas Allen Harris' Through A Lens Darkly, both premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival! Frame:Runner is offering a special discount to BDC Members on all professional services, from color correction and finishing in Avid, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Premiere Pro, file and tape conversions, duplication and sound mixing.    This is an INCREDIBLE benefit to our members!    Thank you, Frame:Runner! Frame:Runner 555 West 57th Street, NYC 212-246-4224 Keith Shapiro, General Manager/Partner  keith@framerunner.com  * * * BDC and Women Make Movies  BDC Members are eligible for the partner discount for Women Make Movies workshops   For these benefits, BDC Membership must be current.  Join or Renew here! Email bdcnewyork@gmail.com for more information. Membership status subject to verification for all benefits.    Invalid membership status may result in additional charges from participating vendors.   * * *  BDC Catalog & Directory  The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members. Broadcasters, educators and commissioning editors contact us often for information about our members' work.  The BDC Catalog & Directory is an easy and efficient way to put you in touch with them as the inquiries come in. Please send an email for further instructions to: Catalog@bdcnewyork.org  You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included. Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership.  Become a Member __________________________________________ Saturday, December 6, 2014 BDC Member Screenings The Price of Memory by Karen Mafundikwa Nominated for Best Film by a Woman of Color! TOMORROW at the African Diaspora  International Film Festival! Nov 28 - Dec 14 Teachers College @Columbia University, NYC  TOMORROW, Sunday, December 7th, 2PM Q&A with director Karen Mafundikwa Nominated for Best Film by a Woman of Color Q&A with director Karen Mafundikwa at both screenings Sunday, Dec. 7th, 2 PM Teachers College @Columbia University 120th St., btw Broadway and  Amsterdam Ave. Buy Tickets Wednesday, Dec. 10th, 7:20 PM QUAD Cinema 34 W. 13th St btw 5th & 6th Aves Buy Tickets When Queen Elizabeth II visited Jamaica in 2002, she was petitioned by a small group of Rastafari for slavery reparations.  This timely, important film traces the Rastafarian petition and a reparations lawsuit against the Queen over a decade, into both the British and Jamaican parliaments, while interweaving stories of Rastas who pursued reparations in the 1960s. * * * BDC Community No!  Enough is Enough! Sadly, the list of petitions keeps getting longer.   But, let's keep supporting all the efforts being made in pursuit of justice. Click pix to sign colorofchange.org's petition #JusticeforEricGarner Enough is Enough!  Secure Justice for Mike Brown and Advance Police Reform We can Still Secure #JusticeForMikeBrown Click pix to sign MomsRising.org's Open Letter to Pres. Obama and AG Eric Holder Click pix to sign ColorofChange.org's Petition * * * BDC Oscar Updates Oscar Consideration for BDC Member and BDC Friends Films! DOCUMENTED, Through A Lens Darkly, Little White Lie, Time is Illmatic, Death Metal Angola The Hollywood Reporter:  134 Documentaries Qualify for Academy Consideration!   Click pix below for more info! Little White Lie Directed by Lacey Schwartz In Theatres Now! DOCUMENTED Directed by Jose Antonio Vargas Co-Produced & Edited by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon Through A Lens Darkly Directed by Thomas Allen Harris Produced by  Ann Bennett   Time is Illmatic One9, Erik Parker, Martha Diaz Death Metal Angola Jeremy Xido, Amanda Burr * * * BDC Member Benefits BDC and Frame:Runner Partnership!  Frame:Runner is a High Definition post-production facility specializing in color correction and finishing for broadcast television, festivals and theatrical distribution  They have worked on countless award-winning projects for BDC members, including Stanley Nelson's Freedom Summer and Thomas Allen Harris' Through A Lens Darkly, both premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival! Frame:Runner is offering a special discount to BDC Members on all professional services, from color correction and finishing in Avid, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Premiere Pro, file and tape conversions, duplication and sound mixing.    This is an INCREDIBLE benefit to our members!    Thank you, Frame:Runner! Frame:Runner 555 West 57th Street, NYC 212-246-4224 Keith Shapiro, General Manager/Partner  keith@framerunner.com  * * * BDC and Women Make Movies  BDC Members are eligible for the partner discount for Women Make Movies workshops For these benefits, BDC Membership must be current.  Join or Renew here! Email bdcnewyork@gmail.com for more information. Membership status subject to verification for all benefits.    Invalid membership status may result in additional charges from participating vendors.   * * *  BDC Catalog & Directory  The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members. Broadcasters, educators and commissioning editors contact us often for information about our members' work.  The BDC Catalog & Directory is an easy and efficient way to put you in touch with them as the inquiries come in. Please send an email for further instructions to: Catalog@bdcnewyork.org  You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included. Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership.  Become a Member _____________________________________ Friday, November 21, 2014 BDC Member Events Little White Lie by Lacey Schwartz Opens Today in NYC! Openings in LA, San Francisco and DC to follow AMC Empire 25 234 West 42nd Street, NYC Special Event at tonight's 7:25 PM Screening! Panel moderated by HOT 97'S Miss Info,  with Grantland's Rembert Brown, Feministing's Lori Adelman & Lacey Schwartz 7:25 PM - 9:15 PM Click pix below for tickets Growing up in an upper-middle-class Jewish household, Lacey Schwartz knew she looked different from the rest of her family, but her darker complexion and curly hair were brushed off as traits inherited from her Sicilian grandfather. When she finally begins to dig deeper, Lacey uncovers unspoken family secrets and willful denial that cuts to the core of her very sense of self, inspiring an intriguing re-evaluation and redefinition of identity. NY Times: Little White Lie, Lacey Schwartz' Film About Self-Discovery  * * * Stones in the Sun (Woch Nan Soley) by Patricia Benoit Quad Cinema 34 West 13th Street, NYC Opens today through November 27th 1:10, 3:10, 5:10, 7:10, 9:30 PM Q&A Nov 21, 7:10 PM show with Patricia Benoit  and actors Carlo Mitton and Thierry Saintine     Q&A Nov 26, 7:10 PM show with Patricia Benoit and actor Edwidge Danticat A dramatic fiction narrative  about the invisible the wounds of exile Read the NY Times Review here! A woman struggling to forget the atrocities she has suffered, reunites with her husband. A single mother striving for assimilation in the suburbs takes in her activist sister. And the host of a popular anti-government radio show finds his estranged father on his doorstep. Set in New York's Haitian community, "Stones in the Sun" weaves together stories of love and family irridiated by the fallout of political terror. * * * BDC Member News Oscar Consideration for BDC Member and BDC Friends Films! DOCUMENTED, Through A Lens Darkly, Little White Lie, Time is Illmatic, Death Metal Angola The Hollywood Reporter:  134 Documentaries Submitted to Academy for Consideration!   Click pix below for more info! Little White Lie Directed by Lacey Schwartz In Theatres Now! DOCUMENTED Directed by Jose Antonio Vargas Co-Produced & Edited by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon Through A Lens Darkly Directed by Thomas Allen Harris Produced by  Ann Bennett   Time is Illmatic One9, Erik Parker, Martha Diaz Death Metal Angola Jeremy Xido, Amanda Burr * * * BDC Member Benefits BDC and Frame:Runner Partnership!  Frame:Runner is a High Definition post-production facility specializing in color correction and finishing for broadcast television, festivals and theatrical distribution  They have worked on countless award-winning projects for BDC members, including Stanley Nelson's Freedom Summer and Thomas Allen Harris' Through A Lens Darkly, both premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival! Frame:Runner is offering a special discount to BDC Members on all professional services, from color correction and finishing in Avid, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Premiere Pro, file and tape conversions, duplication and sound mixing.    This is an INCREDIBLE benefit to our members!    Thank you, Frame:Runner! Frame:Runner 555 West 57th Street, NYC 212-246-4224 Keith Shapiro, General Manager/Partner  keith@framerunner.com  * * * BDC and Women Make Movies  BDC Members are eligible for the partner discount for Women Make Movies workshops For these benefits, BDC Membership must be current.  Join or Renew here! Email bdcnewyork@gmail.com for more information. Membership status subject to verification for all benefits.    Invalid membership status may result in additional charges from participating vendors.   * * *  BDC Catalog & Directory  The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members. Broadcasters, educators and commissioning editors contact us often for information about our members' work.  The BDC Catalog & Directory is an easy and efficient way to put you in touch with them as the inquiries come in. Please send an email for further instructions to: Catalog@bdcnewyork.org  You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included. Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership.  Become a Member

THROUGH A LENS DARKLY

Special Event & Screening THIS Saturday  

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THE NEW BLACK

At CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

and

Maysles Documentary Center 

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Sonia Sanchez' 80th Birthday Bash!

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AMERICAN PROMISE

Available on DVD

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Please join us for a Special Event and Screening of  Through a Lens Darkly at Film Forum in NYC! THIS Saturday, September 6 2:50 pm This special screening features a salute to Brooklyn Photographers: Q&A with Delphine Fawundu-Buford, Russell Frederick  and Radcliffe Roye click pix for more information   Discount tickets are available through BDC! For more information, email: bdcnewyork@gmail.com  **Limited number available, so please email ASAP** Through A Lens Darkly:  Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People by Thomas Allen Harris click pix for more information   Inspired by Deborah Willis' book, Reflections in Black, Through A Lens Darkly is the first documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present.  Through a Lens Darkly probes the recesses of American history by discovering images that have been suppressed, forgotten and lost.  From The New York Times: "...a tribute to unsung artists and a lyrical, at times heartbroken, meditation on imagery and identity. The film is always absorbing to watch, but only once it's over do you begin to grasp the extent of its ambitions, and just how much it has done within a packed, compact hour and a half. " Watch the Trailer! * * *

The New Black Directed by Yoruba Richen   To date, 16 states have legalized gay marriage, but lawsuits and state referendums fighting this change proliferate.  The New Black digs deeply into the role of African-Americans at this historic moment.  Filmmaker Yoruba Richen takes viewers into the pews, to the kitchen table, and onto the streets to tell the story of the historic fight for marriage equality, charting the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community. Wednesday, September 17th, 6pm Q&A with Yoruba Richen to follow The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism 219 West 40th St., Room 308 New York, NY 10018 **This is a free event for all CUNY students, faculty and staff!** (RSVP required: sabrina.gordon@journalism.cuny.edu)  * * *   Thursday, September 18th, 7pm Q&A with Yoruba Richen to follow   Maysles Documentary Center  343 Lenox Ave.  New York, NY 10018 Buy tickets here: http://maysles.org/mdc/      * * * CELEBRATE SONIA! The Official New York City 80th Birthday Party for SONIA SANCHEZ    Friday, Sept. 19, 2014,  6 pm Bedford Hall 1177 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn (bet. Madison St. and Jefferson Ave.) Performances by Ursula Rucker and Jessica Care Moore Remarks by Haki Madhubuti, Third World Press Music by DJ Reborn Sneak Peak at BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez the documentary celebrating her life and work And much more!  Admission: $35 Buy tickets at www.celebratesonia.eventbrite.com  * * * AMERICAN PROMISE  by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson Now Available on DVD and digital platforms    AMERICAN PROMISE spans 13 years as Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, middle-class African-American parents in Brooklyn, NY, turn their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, who make their way through one of the most prestigious private schools in the country. Chronicling the boys' divergent paths from kindergarten through high school graduation at Manhattan's Dalton School, this provocative, intimate documentary presents complicated truths about America's struggle to come of age on issues of race, class and opportunity. Buy it here: http://www.newvideo.com/docurama/american-promise/   * * *

BDC Events Frame:Runner Seminar on Post-Production Exclusively for BDC Members *FREE* Complimentary wine, fruit and cheese will be served  to enhance learning :-) Monday, June 9, 2014 7 - 10 PM 555 West 57th Street, 17th Floor, NYC Please RSVP by this Friday, June 6th, to  bdcnewyork@gmail.com Frame:Runner and Navigating HD is offering a free seminar to BDC members.   DI Colorists, Jon Fordham & Evan Anthony will go over the technology, workflow and best practices of post-production.  General Manager Keith Shapiro will also be in attendance to discuss the special discounts for post finishing they offer to BDCmembers. Frame:Runner is a High Definition post-production facility specializing in color correction and finishing for broadcast television, festivals, and theatrical distribution. They have worked on countless award-winning projects for BDC members, including Stanley Nelson's Freedom Summer and Thomas Allen Harris' Through A Lens Darkly, both which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Any questions, please email bdcnewyork@gmail.com * * * Beauty of Change An Inspirational Evening with the Legendary Susan L. Taylor Tuesday, June 10, 2014 6:30 - 9 PM YWCA of Brooklyn 30 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY    As the soul of Essence magazine for over three decades, Ms. Taylor was the driving force behind one of the most celebrated African American  owned businesses of our time. She was the first and only African American woman to be recognized by the Magazine Publishers of America with the Henry Johnson Fisher Award-the industry's highest honor! Ms. Taylor is a social activist, philanthropist, author of four books, and role model for young women. * * * Afraid of Dark Directed by Mya B. Friday, June 13, 2014 6:30 - 8:30 PM Presented by Reel Sisters and The Kumble Theater Long Island University - Brooklyn, NY Flatbush Avenue, between DeKalb Ave. & Willoughby St. Hosted by Lisa Durden Post-Screening discussion with the director  and Councilman Jumaane Williams, Danny Simmons, and others Go to  http://www.reelsisters.com/  to watch trailer and buy tickets    Mya B.'s documentary asks the provocative question, "Why is everyone so afraid of black men?"  Afraid of Dark challenges stereotypes and reflects on the difference between how society perceives Black men and how they define themselves. * * * Lorraine Hansberry Documentary Project Directed by Tracy Heather Strain Kickstarter Campaign *Ends Fri, Jun 20 2014 8:57 PM EDT* Less than 26 days to go! *Please Support!  Click below for more information*  The Lorraine Hansberry Documentary Project takes you on a journey through her intense and eventful life to tell a story of one woman who, from a young age, was compelled to fight against injustice of all kinds, ultimately choosing art-the theater specifically-as her chief vehicle. For Lorraine Hansberry, art contained the "energy which could change things." Her overnight success transformed the face of American theater and catapulted her into the spotlight.  * * * May 26, 2014 BDC Member Updates The New Black Directed by Yoruba Richen Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) 87 Lafayette Street May 29th, 2014 To date, 16 states have legalized gay marriage, but lawsuits and state referendums fighting this change proliferate.  The New Black digs deeply into the role of African-Americans at this historic moment. Focusing on the 2012 legal battle in Maryland (a state in which blacks make up nearly one-third of the electorate), filmmaker Yoruba Richen tracks activists, families, and clergy on both sides of the campaign.  Far from a polemical screed, The New Black explores the role of tradition, prejudice, and religious conviction in shaping the evolution of the black community's response. * * *  DOCUMENTED Directed by Jose Antonio Vargas Co-Prod & Edited by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon Opens in Washington DC May 30th - June 5th, 2014 West End Cinema 2301 M St NW    DOCUMENTED is the story of Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in a New York Times Magazine essay and testified at the Senate immigration hearings.  The film chronicles his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; his evolution as an immigration reform activist; and his personal struggle to reconnect with his mother, whom he has not seen in over 20 years. Watch trailer at Visit Website * Like on Facebook * Follow on Twitter @DOCUMENTEDfilm * * * The Left Forum Convocation at John Jay College Featuring Eric V. Tait, Jr. (June 1st) Speakers include Harry Belafonte, Angela Davis, Cornel West, Kshama Sawant, Immortal Technique, Amy Goodman, David Harveu, and Stanley Aronowitz May 30 - June 1st  The Role of Media in a Revolutionary Transformation of Society June 1st, 3:40 - 5:40 pm Session 7: Room 1.81   Eric V. Tait, Jr. and others take take a look at the historical roots of the racial injustices embedded in the criminal justice system, such as Stand Your Ground Laws and Stop N Frisk policing tactics.  Excerpts from Tait's series Media Watch, and his film, Then I'll Be Free To Travel Home will be shown. * * *

BDC Members

Invisible Universe by M. Asli Dukan Fundraising Campaign **Please Support!**  Ends THIS FRIDAY, March 7, 2014, 11:59 pm (click pix to watch video and learn more) Just a few days left to support Invisible Universe: a history of blackness in speculative fiction.  For this documentary, director M. Asli Dukan has interviewed a "Who's Who" of Black fantasy, horror and science fiction/speculative fiction-- writers, filmmakers and artists-- including Samuel R. Delany, Octavia E. Butler, Wesly Snipes, Nichelle Nichols, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, Nnedi Okorafor, and more.  She has traveled the country documenting events, conferences and performances, to reveal how black creators have countered the invisibility of black characters in "popular" speculative fiction, by creating a universe of their own.   Make a donation today! Octavia Butler, author Nichelle Nichols, Lieut. Uhura, Star Trek Ken Foree, actor Sam Delany, author Carol Cooper, critic Facebook   Twitter  YouTube   Website  Indiegogo * * *

BDC Friends

Freedom Rider Diary (Book) by Carol Ruth Silver Book Signing & Launch New York and Boston Thursday March 6, New York, NY* Books Culture 536 West 112th St. *Introduction by BDC Member Filmmaker Laurens Grant Monday, March 14 in Boston, MA click on pix for tkt info (scroll down)  Freedom Riders were ordinary people, mostly young, who challenged the system of segregation - apartheid - which had existed in the US South for almost a hundred years.  The Freedom Riders boarded commercial buses, riding in small, integrated groups, to challenge segregation in inter-state facilities in the deep South. They met violence, resistance, and incarceration.  Carol Ruth Silver is a civil rights attorney and since 2002, has been working to promote education for girls in Afghanistan. * * *

BDC Member Benefits BDC and Frame:Runner Partnership!  Frame:Runner is a High Definition post-production facility specializing in color correction and finishing for broadcast television, festivals and theatrical distribution  They have worked on countless award-winning projects for BDC members, including Stanley Nelson's Freedom Summer and Thomas Allen Harris' Through A Lens Darkly, both premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival! Frame:Runner is offering a special discount to BDC Members on all professional services, from color correction and finishing in Avid, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Premiere Pro, file and tape conversions, duplication and sound mixing.    This is an INCREDIBLE benefit to our members!    Thank you, Frame:Runner! Frame:Runner 555 West 57th Street, NYC 212-246-4224 Keith Shapiro, General Manager/Partner  keith@framerunner.com  * * * BDC and Women Make Movies  BDC Members are eligible for the partner discount for Women Make Movies workshops   For these benefits, BDC Membership must be current.  Join or Renew here! Email bdcnewyork@gmail.com for more information. Membership status subject to verification for all benefits.    Invalid membership status may result in additional charges from participating vendors.   * * *

BDC Catalog & Directory is accepting submissions! The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members. This BDC-exclusive resource is an invaluable opportunity to reach audiences, increase visibility, promotional opportunities, as well as get work and generate revenue. We have already received requests from CBS, The Documentary Channel, ASPiRE, Magic Johnson's new cable network, to name a few. But they can't reach you and we can't refer you if you're not in it, so please submit your information now! Please send an email for further instructions to: Catalog@bdcnewyork.org (Please do not send emails to Sabrina or Nicole's personal emails. Thanks!) You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included. Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership.  Become a Member