• Written by: Henry Northmore

Subtitled the ‘Creation of Techno Music’ this documentary sets out to detail just that very subject, going back to the roots of the Detroit scene, the birthplace of techno as we know it today. The film aims to position the genre’s development in the social deprivation of Motor City, and its musical roots in the likes of Kraftwerk, George Clinton and the P-Funk scene.

The piece features interviews with pretty much everyone involved in the development and furtherance of the early techno movement; Blake Baxter, Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox, Stacey Pullen, Jeff Mills, Eddie Fowlkes, Carl Craig and more reminisce and set the scene. Inevitably, the bulk of the film centres on the work of the big three, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, the founding fathers of techno back in the 80s.

Director Gary Bredow demonstrates a love of the genre, humanising machine music by attaching a personality to the creators of one of the proto-forms of dance music. It was revolutionary at the time and this demonstrates how advanced their knowledge of samplers, synths and electronics was at the time. The stories are genuinely amusing and/or informative, giving a real insight into how a musical style is created. The only downside is the length: you actually want more run time as the credits roll.

>via: http://film.list.co.uk/article/7839-high-tech-soul/

Submit your prose or poetry here.

We’re very excited!

Why: Minerva Rising is sponsoring its first ever chapbook contest.

The Theme: Daring to be the Woman I Am

The Scoop:  We will publish two chapbooks, one in prose and one in poetry.  We’re asking for submissions that speak creatively, powerfully, thoughtfully and maybe even uniquely to our theme “Daring to be the Woman I Am”.  For prose we will consider a collection of short stories or a long short story (up to 45 pages) and for poetry we are asking for a collection of poems (12 – 15 pages).

The Dates: Submissions will be accepted from October 1, 2013 through December 1, 2013.  Publication is planned for March 2014 to coincide with Women’s History Month.

The Fee: The fee for submission is $20

The Prize:   $250 each and 10 copies of the book.

The Judge: Rosemary Daniell

Rosemary Daniell’s most recent publication is “The One Who Breaks My Heart,” included inSugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex, edited by Erica Jong and published by Ecco/Harper Collins, 2011. Her book, Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women’s Lives, was published by Henry Holt and Company in May, 2006. Its prequel,The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself: Writing and Living the Zona Rosa Way, was published by Faber & Faber, in 1997. Her revolutionary memoir, Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex and Suicide in the Deep South (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1980; Henry Holt & Company, 1989; Hill Street Press, 1999) won the 1999 Palimpsest Prize for a most-requested out-of-print book, and was re-issued that same year. Along with her second memoir, Sleeping with Soldiers (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1984; Hill Street Press, 2003), which was also published as part of the Book of the Month Club’s Library of Erotic Classics, it was a forerunner of the current memoir trend. She is the author of five other books of poetry and prose, including and her collection of essays, Confessions of a (Female) Chauvinist (Hill Street Press, 2001), a novel, The Hurricane Season (William Morrow & Company, 1992); two collections of poetry, A Sexual Tour of the Deep South (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1975; Push Button Publishing, 1994) and Fort Bragg & Other Points South (Henry Holt & Company, 1987). Among her awards are two N.E.A. Fellowships in creative writing, one in poetry, another in fiction. In addition her features and reviews have appeared in numerous magazines and papers, including Harper’s Bazaar, New York Woman, Mademoiselle, The New York Times Book Review andMother Jones; she has also been a guest on many national radio and television shows, such as Merve Griffin, Donahue, The Diane Rehm Show, Larry King Live and CNN’s “Portrait of America.” She is profiled in the book Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. In 2008, she received a Governor’s Award in the Humanities for her impact on the state of Georgia; early in her career, she instigated and led writing workshops in women’s prisons in Georgia and Wyoming, served as program director for Georgia’s Poetry in the Schools, and worked for a dozen years in Poetry in the Schools programs in Georgia, South Carolina, and Wyoming. Also known as one of the best writing coaches in the country, she is the founder and leader of Zona Rosa, a series of creative writing workshops in Savannah and Atlanta, and cities throughout the world, as described in People and Southern Living magazines, and attended by such outstanding writers as John Berendt, Bruce Feiler and Pat Conroy. To date, over 130 Zona Rosans and counting have become published authors. For further information, see Rosemary’s web page at www.myzonarosa.com.

“Rosemary Daniell is one of the great writing teachers I’ve seen at work in the country.” – Pat Conroy

“Rosemary Daniell is enormously gifted. Her work is risky – in the best sense of the word. She is one of the women by whom our age will be known in times to come.” – Erica Jong

“(Daniell) has…proved just how earthy, inspiring, and even rapturous . . . the creative process can be.” – People

The Guidelines:

Format:  Each page of your submission must include the title of the work and a page number in the header and be double-spaced. Please include a table of contents and an acknowledgements page. Poetry submissions should have only one poem per page. Do not include any identifying information, such as your name, address, phone number or e-mail address, in your submitted work.

Multiple and Previously Published Submissions:  We will accept multiple submissions from a single author as long as they are accompanied by separate reading fees.

For poetry submissions, individual poems can be published previously but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. For prose submissions only twenty percent of a multiple story collection may be previously published. Longer short stories must be previously unpublished. All previously published poems or short stories must indicate what publication and issue they appeared in.

Code of Ethics:  We have chosen to adopt the contest code of ethics developed by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. We agree to “1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.”

Eligible Participants:  Minerva Rising employees, the Contest’s judge and members of their immediate families are not eligible to participate in this contest.

Thank you for joining the Minerva Rising conversation.

25 More Empowering Books

for Black Girls

Our first list of empowering books for little black girls got an overwhelming response, but the brilliant women of the FH community brought to light some titles we overlooked. In order to be more inclusive of diverse interests and older black girls, we’ve put together a second list of powerful books.

Ages 2-4

Please, Baby, Please 

– Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee

Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, producer Tonya Lewis Lee, preset a behind-the-scenes look at the chills, spills, and unequivocal thrills of bringing up baby!

 

 

 

 

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Girls Hold Up This World  – Jada Pinkett Smith

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith–wife of superstar Will Smith–lovingly captures the strength, unity, and beauty that live in girls in this poignant photographic book.

Kindergarten – 2nd Grade
 

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The Magic Poof – Stephen Hodges

Seven year old Ange-Marie has always felt different. Who wouldn’t when your best friend is literally attached to you? The Poof is a great ball of curly hair that sits directly on top of Ange-Marie’s head. His magical and playful nature always seems to produce mischief and adventure. In book one of The Magic Poof series, Ange-Marie must decide what to wear for school picture day. But The Poof also wants to look good for picture day! How does Ange-Marie look her best and keep her enchanted and hairy friend a secret? In the end, both The Poof and Ange-Marie find that compromise is the key in any friendship.

 

 

 

 

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I Like Myself! – Karen Beaumont

High on energy and imagination, this ode to self-esteem encourages kids to appreciate everything about themselves–inside and out. Messy hair? Beaver breath? So what! Here’s a little girl who knows what really matters.
 

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Grace for President – Kelly S. DiPucchio

When Grace’s teacher reveals that the United States has never had a female president, Grace decides to be the first. And she immediately starts off her political career as a candidate the school’s mock election!

 

 

 

 

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Princess Cupcake Jones and the Missing Tutu 

–  Ylleya Fields

Cupcake Jones is a modern day princess, who like many girls, loves her tutu, playing with her toys, and most of all creating a mess! Follow Princess Cupcake Jones in her first book, Princess Cupcake Jones and the Missing Tutu. In this adventure, when her beloved tutu goes missing, Cupcake learns the importance of tidying up and putting things in their proper place.

 

 

 

 

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Nina bonita  – Ana Maria Machado

In this wonderful story about diversity, a white rabbit falls in love with a black girl and longs to have beautiful dark skin like hers.

 

 

 

 

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Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales  

– Virginia Hamilton

A collection of twenty-five African-American folktales focuses on strong female characters.
 

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Thunder Rose  – Jerdine Nolen

On a dark night of howling rain and booming thunder, Jackson and Millicent MacGruder welcome a new baby girl into their lives. Imagine their surprise when she sits up, thanks them for bringing her into the world, and informs them that she’s quite partial to the name Rose.
 

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Most Loved in All the World 

– Tonya Cherie Hegamin

An authentic and powerful account of slavery and how a handmade quilt helps a little girl leave home for freedom.

 

 

 

 

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Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters 

– Barack Obama

In this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, President Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation. From the artistry of Georgia O’Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington, President Obama sees the traits of these heroes within his own children, and within all of America’s children.
 

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Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-Up 

– Melissa Ford

Keena Ford is so excited to go on a field trip to the United States Capitol with her second-grade class! At school, she is running for a spot on the student council, and on the field trip she’s going to meet a real live U.S. representative. The only trouble is, mean Tiffany Harris keeps teasing Keena and taking the best place in line. Keena doesn’t mean to get into trouble, but trouble seems to find her anyway!

 

 

 

 

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The Lucky Stone – Lucille Clifton

There is nothing Tee enjoys more than sitting out on the porch with her great-greatmother, listening to the fascinating stories about the lucky stone.

 

 

 

 

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Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt 

– Patricia McKissack

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, grandmother and granddaughter, aunt and niece, friend and friend. For a hundred years, generations of women from Gee’s Bend have quilted together, sharing stories, trading recipes, singing hymns—all the while stitchin’ and pullin’ thread through cloth. Every day Baby Girl listens, watches, and waits, until she’s called to sit at the quilting frame. Piece by piece, she puzzles her quilt together—telling not just her story, but the story of her family, the story of Gee’s Bend, and the story of her ancestors’ struggle for freedom.

 

 

 

 

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The Girl Who Spun Gold – Virginia Hamilton

“Stirring…with a rhythm just right for reading aloud…a West Indian version of the universal little-man (Rumpelstiltskin) folktale. Quashiba’s mother…boasts that her daughter can spin and weave a whole field of the finest gold thread. Dramatic words and pictures.” – Booklist, starred review. “A charming and visually stunning tale of cunning, greed, and quixotic good fortune.”
 

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Bintou’s Braids – Sylvianne Diouf

Bintou wants braids. Long, pretty braids, woven with gold coins and seashells, just like her older sister and the other women in her family. But she is too young for braids. Instead, all she has are four little tufts of hair; all she ever gets are cornrows. However, when Bintou saves the lives of her two young cousins and is offered a reward of her choosing, Bintou discovers that true beauty comes in many different forms.

 

 

 

 

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Cendrillon : A Caribbean Cinderella 

– Robert D. San Souci

You may think you already know this story about a beautiful servant girl, a cruel stepmother, a magnificent ball, and a lost slipper. But you’ve never heard it for true. Now you can hear the tale from someone who was there: a poor washerwoman from the island of Martinique. She has just one thing in the world to love, her goddaughter Cendrillon. When she finds Cendrillon heartsick over a rich man’s son, at first she doesn’t know what to do. But she has sharp wits, a strong will, and the magic wand her mother left her — and soon she has a plan to give her dear Cendrillon the gift of a love that will change her life.
 

 

 

 

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If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks 

– Faith Ringgold

If a bus could talk, it would tell the story of a young African-American girl named Rosa who had to walk miles to her one-room schoolhouse in Alabama while white children rode to their school in a bus. It would tell how the adult Rosa rode to and from work on a segregated city bus and couldn’t sit in the same row as a white person. It would tell of the fateful day when Rosa refused to give up her seat to a white man and how that act of courage inspired others around the world to stand up for freedom.
 

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Nikki and Deja – Karen English

Meet Nikki and Deja, who live next door to each other and are best friends. They do everything together—watch Saturday morning cartoons, play jacks, jump double Dutch at recess, and help each other with their homework for Mrs. Shelby’s third-grade class. But when an arrogant new girl arrives and Nikki and Deja form a club that would exclude her, the results are not what they expect. This warm, easy-to-read chapter book from an award-winning author captures all the joys and complexities of elementary school life—particularly friendships and cliques—with finesse and humor.

 

 

 

 

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4th-6th Grade

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice 

– Phillip Hoose

On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders. Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South.
 

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One Crazy Summer – Rita Williams-Garcia

Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, One Crazy Summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 in search of the mother who abandoned them.

6th-8th grade
 

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Ninth Ward – Jewell Parker Rhodes

Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. She doesn’t have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future.

 

 

 

 

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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry 

– Mildred D. Taylor

The story of one African American family fighting to stay together and strong in the face of brutal racist attacks, illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s.

 

 

 

 

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Aya – Marguerite Abuet

Ivory Coast, 1978. Family and friends gather at Aya’s house every evening to watch the country’s first television ad campaign promoting the fortifying effects of Solibra, “the strong man’s beer.” It’s a golden time, and the nation, too–an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa–seems fueled by something wondrous.
 

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Zora and Me – Victoria Bond

Racial duplicity threatens an idyllic African American community in the turn-of-the-century South in a dazzling debut inspired by the early life of Zora Neale Hurston.

 

 

 

 

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Hush – Jacqueline Woodson

Evie Thomas is not who she used to be. Once she had a best friend, a happy home and a loving grandmother living nearby. Once her name was Toswiah.

Now, everything is different. Her family has been forced to move to a new place and change their identities. But that’s not all that has changed. Her once lively father has become depressed and quiet. Her mother leaves teaching behind and clings to a new-found religion. Her only sister is making secret plans to leave.

And Evie, struggling to find her way in a new city where kids aren’t friendly and the terrain is as unfamiliar as her name, wonders who she is.

 

 

 

 

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Zahrah the Windseeker 

– Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

In the Ooni Kingdom, children born dada—with vines growing in their hair—are rumored to have special powers. Zahrah Tsami doesn’t know anything about that. She feels normal. Others think she’s different—they fear her. Only Dari, her best friend, isn’t afraid of her. But then something begins to happen—something that definitely marks Zahrah as different—and the only person she can tell is Dari. He pushes her to investigate, edging them both closer and closer to danger. Until Dari’s life is on the line. Only Zahrah can save him, but to do so she’ll have to face her worst fears alone, including the very thing that makes her different.

(The Collegian) Two Fresno State University students, Nadia Lewis and Jamila Ahmed, were the first African-American women to win first-and second-place speakers in the 42 years of the Henry Clay Invitational Debates held at the University of Kentucky.

The competition was established in 1971 and is one of the oldest and largest U.S. policy, varsity debate tournaments in America. This year, the Fresno State debate team competed against 286 speakers from 30 schools.

Despite it being her first semester in debate, Lewis won first place among individual speakers. She is now ranked 29th in the nation. Ahmed is in her second year in debate and won second place and is now ranked 16th in the nation.

“This is the first time in the history of the Henry Clay Debates at the University of Kentucky that two African-American women have been awarded the top two speaker positions,” said Dr. Shanara Reid-Brinkley, director of debate at University of Pittsburgh. “I do believe it is also the first time in the history of national debate competition that two African-American women have won the top two speakers at any national tournament.”

Reid-Brinkley said in the 1990s she was the most successful African-American female debater in national policy debate history, but the Fresno State debaters represent a new wave of talent.

“Nadia Lewis and Jamila Ahmed have accomplished a feat that many debaters around the country can only dream of achieving,” Reid-Brinkley said. “And, it is important to note that they did so as virtual novices competing in the varsity level division. Their competitors are likely to have five to eight more years of debate experience than these young women.”

In U.S. policy debate, a topic is chosen by the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) and is voted on by all university debate members. After a topic is chosen, four resolutions are then drafted by CEDA.

These resolutions then can be used by the teams during their debates.

This year’s topic was: “The U.S. Federal Government should substantially increase statutory and/or judicial restrictions on the war powers authority of the president of the United States in one or more of the following areas: cyber operations, indefinite detention, targeted killing such as drones, and deploying the armed forces into hostile places.”

Lewis and Ahmed are non-traditional debaters, which means they read poetry, sing, draw metaphors to the topic and criticize the structure of debate as it exists today. They also have a constant theme of the oppression of African-American women throughout their debates.

“We take a metaphorical approach to the resolution,” Ahmed said. “One of the topics was targeted killing; we talk about how black women are targeted every day in society. It’s not the same as using a drone, but we would use a metaphorical drone and examples in history or the world to further our argument. We discuss the oppressive structures that black women deal within our daily lives and despite these obstacles, we can still affirm ourselves through song and poetry and our resilience as phenomenal black women.”

Non-traditional debate style has only been prominent for a little more than a decade and is not fully accepted by everyone in the debate community.

“Non-traditional style began about 12 years ago when speakers started to bring philosophical topics into their arguments,” said Deven Cooper, director of debate at Fresno State. “Then people began to actually do what the philosophies were saying and it has grown into what it is today. It’s not really fully accepted by everyone because some people like to look at traditional policy debate as the most legitimate style, because it’s been argued that particular style creates better critical thinking, better advocacy and better policy making skills.”

Both Lewis and Ahmed use their life background to validate their argument in their speeches. In their opinion, it’s important to be a non-traditional team in debate because it reveals who they are on a personal level.

“We’re using our black aesthetics and our experiences as black women in society,” Lewis explained. “We bring that into our [debate] round through our music and poetry. We express how we feel and the struggles that we go through and the oppression through [our speeches]. When people leave [the debate] rounds, they know who we are, they know our struggles, and who we are as black women in this society.”

Lewis and Ahmed said they want to use debate as an opportunity to make a difference in the debate community and inspire young girls.

“That’s why I think it’s important for debate [to be non-traditional], because a lot of the people [in debate] want to be policy makers,” Ahmed said. “I think that’s why what we do is so essential, because if you’re going to be making policies that are going to affect the people, then you need to know the people. That’s why we think that it’s so important to bring out your subjectivity and not have this distant way of debating. That’s what’s kind of wrong with our society and our policy makers now because they don’t realize actual people that are suffering.”

“I want to be able to leave debate knowing that what we’re doing made a difference, because it’s more than just an academic sport for me,” Lewis added. “The topics we debate, Jamila and I are truly passionate about. I want to create a change that, after we leave, other black women and girls that are younger can join this activity and it can be something that’s educational for them.”

Looks like the drama that made headlines 10 years ago surrounding rap star Nellyand his infamous ‘Tip Drill‘ video is rearing its head again. For those who don’t know, when Nelly made this video he decided to push the envelop and blur the lines between rap video and porn. he hired a bunch of strippers, filmed an fantasy bachelor party and in the middle of all the gyrating and booty shaking, he infamously swiped a credit card down a woman’s butt cheeks.

Even though the video was shown only on BET‘s then adult themed Uncut TV show which aired after midnight, it caught the attention and upset more than few people including some of the women at Spelman College who decided they wanted to take a stand and do something about it. The opportunity to confront Nelly was within sight when he made Spelman College one of the stops for a a series of bone marrow drives he was doing around the country in an attempt to save the life of his sister Jackie who was battling cancer.

Depending on who you talk to the story that unfolded went something like this; the women of Spelman said they wanted to meet with Nelly and express their concerns about the video and address the issue of mysogny and the exploitation of women. They requested a meeting with Nelly which for the most part was supposed to be private.They had no intention of canceling the bone marrow drive, but felt it was important to meet with him since he was asking for their help.

According to Nelly, the women of Spelman were unfairly protesting him and using an event in which he was focused on saving his sister’s life to bring attention to a conversation he felt could’ve been had when her life wasn’t in danger.  Jackie would eventually pass away from the disease.

The press got wind of this and the ‘protest at Spelman’ received international attention. Nelly pulled out of the bone marrow drive. The women at Spelman went on and held one without him and it’s been bad blood at least on Nelly’s part ever since.

In a recent interview on the Huffington Post, host Marc Lamont Hill asked Nelly about the 10 year old incident and Nelly still upset, offered up his perspective. He placed the death of his sister at the feet of the women at Spelman, claiming their ‘protest’ robbed him and may have turned away a potential donar who would’ve been a match. He also said that if he do do anything different, it would’ve been to kick someone’s ass. You can peep the interview below..

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Needless to say, Nelly’s inflammatory remarks set off a firestorm which prompted a number of women from Spelman including key organizers around the protest like Asha Jennings who had initially teamed up with Nelly’s 4Sho4Kids Foundation to do the bone marrow drive and Moya Bailey, president of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance , to point out Nelly spreading a bunch of lies.

Moya Bailey who is now an African American Studies postdoctoral fellow at Penn State University, penned a stinging Open Letter to Nelly where she rebukes his claims on the Black Youth Project blog. She wrote…

My group raised questions about the misogynoir in the video and lyrics, and when we heard that you were invited to campus by our Student Government Association, it seemed fair to us that we could ask you about the dehumanizing treatment of black women while you were asking us for our help. You declined our offer to talk about your music and lyrics. Instead, you chose to go to the press, which made our alleged threat of a protest an international news story. In the time since, whenever asked about the situation, you both mischaracterize what happened and lament not using violence, something you repeated most recently during a Huffpost Live interview earlier this week. Let’s be clear: No student or faculty member of Spelman College canceled your bone marrow registration drive. In fact, we held our own drive after you and your people chose to cancel the bone marrow registration drive for fear that there might have been a protest.

She continued:

Had you decided to come, to just talk with us, you would have seen fewer than ten “protesters,” all of whom were planning to register to donate bone marrow, despite your refusal to hear us. I say “protesters” because we didn’t actually get to have a conversation. What started as a simple request that you speak with a small group of concerned students about representations of women in your lyrics and videos turned into a national conversation about misogyny, race, and class in hip hop culture.

Moya ended her open letter by noting

If you want to check my resume and my work, please, go right ahead. Know that this was no flash in the pan for me or most of the Spelman sisters involved.

Glad to know if you had it do over again you would have “kicked some ass.”

Just name the time and place, sir. I’m ready.