KELLYLEE EVANS

Jazz in Marcia 2013

Kellylee Evans – vocals
Eric Lohrer – guitar
Raphael Debacker – piano
Sylvain Romano – bass
Fabrice Moreau – drums

photo by Alex Lear

Remember

even as this world goes mad

let us always remember to remember

we can always choose, always choose life

always choose to love

and to treat other humans

with respect and compassion

to defend ourselves certainly

if and when attacked, but

also, and more importantly,

to extend ourselves to help others

and always, in every way, every 

creative way we can conceive, always

to demonstrate with the example

of our every breathing motion

the inspiring power of the positive

positive in our projections

of love

& struggle, love for each

other & creative struggles

to help one another

struggles to make this world

better and more beautiful

even as the world continues

to go mad

we must continue, we must remember

—kalamu ya salaam

MAROONS

REVISITED

HISTORY

AND STORIES

Secluded in the forests, the swamps and the mountains, or hidden at the borders of plantations, maroons all over the Americas led secret lives, while fiercely maintaining their independence.

Omar H. Ali (“Benkos Bioho: African Maroon Leadership in New Grenada”;) Sylviane A. Diouf (Slavery’s Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons;) and Richard Price (author, notably, of Travels with Tooy: History, Memory, and the African American Imagination and Rainforest Warriors: Human Rights on Trial) will trace the Maroons’ history and stories from 16th century Colombia to 18th and 19th century North America, and 21st century Surinam. Book signing will follow.

Presented by the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery.

29 October 2015

South African

Mmabatho Montsho’s

“Women on Sex”

Web Series

Mmabatho Montsho

Mmabatho Montsho’s “Women on Sex” social media project explores the many issues around female sexuality that are often only discussed privately or are considered taboo.

The YouTube-based web series features celebrities,
doctors, pastors and everyday women as they challenge
perceptions and norms about sex. (Text: Facebook). In
addition to the YouTube platform, “Women on Sex”
provides updates and newsfeeds on Facebook and
Twitter, which encourage dialogue with followers about
the web series content and related issues.

In an interview with destinyconnect.com Mmabatho
Montsho had this to say about her reason for producing
the series:

One of our duties as filmmakers is to hold a
mirror up to society and as one who navigates
the world in a black female body, it’s my duty
to create progressive black female-centered
content that disturbs the status quo. 

YouTube Series : Women on Sex

LINKS

Interview with Mmabatho Montsho: http://www.destinyconnect.com/2015/08/28/mmabatho-montsho-on-black-women-owning-their-sexuality/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WomenOnSex

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Women-On-Sex-847556128691493/ 

>via: http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2015/10/south-african-mmabatho-montshos-women.html

>via: http://theculturecypher.com/2015/11/07/10-obscure-hip-hop-documentaries-you-need-to-watch/

November 24, 2015

Watch Episode 1 of

Upcoming New Syfy

Space Opera

‘The Expanse’

(Chad Coleman,

Dominique Tipper

Are Cast Members)

SyfyChad Coleman and Dominique Tipper in THE EXPANSE

Dominique Tipper & Chad Coleman are part of an ensemble cast in Syfy’s new space opera “The Expanse,” which centers on the crew of a space ship, who discover a derelict vessel which holds a secret that may be devastating to human existence.

This hour-long, ten episode series is based on the New York Times bestselling book series collectively known as “The Expanse,” written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (under the pen name James S. A. Corey). 

Synopsis: Hundreds of years in the future, humans have colonized the solar system. The U.N. controls Earth. Mars is an independent military power. The planets rely on the resources of the Asteroid Belt, where air and water are more precious than gold. For decades, tensions have been rising between these three places. Earth, Mars and the Belt are now on the brink of war. And all it will take is a single spark. It is within this future that “The Expanse” begins. The series follows the case of a missing young woman that brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain together in a race across the solar system that will expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

Tipper is a series regular, playing a character named Naomi Nagata. Her character’s bio reads: Growing up on poor Belter mining ships meant that Naomi’s early life was lived on a knife’s edge: nearly suffocating, starving, and becoming marooned were regular occurrences throughout her childhood. Self-educated with multiple advanced degrees, and having risen to the rank of Chief Engineer aboard the ice hauler Canterbury (which supplies water for the Asteroid Belt’s residents), she appears to be a model Belter success story, though she carries with her a secret pain. She is cagey about her past, even with her closest friends. She abhors violence, but has witnessed enough injustice to understand the necessity of it. Her complicated relationship with violence and her troubled history have lead to an unlikely friendship with the Canterbury’s mechanic, Amos Burton

Meanwhile, Coleman has a recurring role, playing Fred Lucius Johnson. His character’s bio reads: The Chief of Operations at Tycho Station’s colossal mobile construction platform, Frederick Lucius Johnson oversees the construction of space stations, the spinning up of asteroids, and in recent years the construction of mankind’s first generation starship: the Nauvoo. A retired Colonel with the UN Marines, Fred is notorious for his involvement in a UN military action that will live on in infamy. Since his disgrace he has sought solace and penance working to better the life of Belters all over the system. Fred is an outspoken advocate for the Outer Planets Alliance, a Belter advocacy group who seek legitimacy, but are often accused of terrorism.

The hour-long series debuts on December 14 at 10 PM on Syfy. But the network has released the first episode online, which I’ve embedded below. I haven’t watched it yet, so I can’t offer any informed commentary on its merits. But I’ll check it out later this week. Feel free to get ahead of me, watch it, and share your thoughts.:

>via: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-episode-1-of-upcoming-new-syfy-space-opera-the-expanse-chad-coleman-dominique-tipper-are-cast-members-20151124

AFRODIASPORES

• 24 November 2015

thecivilwarparlor:

This Is The Earliest Known Reference To “Gumbo” And Is Found In The Interrogation Records Of A Slave,  New Orleans, September 1764

GUMBO- The Creole Cookery Book, published by the Christian Woman’s Exchange of New Orleans in 1885, calls gumbo making an “occult science” that “should be allowed its proper place in the gastronomical world.”

A dish that originated in southern Louisiana from the Louisiana Creole people during the 18th century. It typically consists primarily of a strongly flavored stock, okra, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and seasoning vegetables, which can include celery, bell peppers and onions.

According to one suggestion, gumbo is a reinterpretation of traditional African cooking. West Africans used the vegetable okra as a base for many dishes, including soups, often pairing okra with meat and shrimp, with salt and pepper as seasonings. In Louisiana, the dish was modified to include ingredients introduced by other cultural groups. Surviving records indicate that by 1764, African slaves in New Orleans mixed cooked okra with rice to make a meal.  

A more familiar version of the dish was described in an 1879 cookbook by Marion Cabell Tyree. Her Housekeeping in Old Virginia described “Gumbo Filit A La Creole”, a filé-based gumbo with chicken and oysters and spiced with allspice, cloves, red and black pepper, parsley, and thyme. The 1881 cookbook What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, dictated by former slave Abby Fisher, contained three gumbo recipes. “Oyster Gumbo Soup” used a filé base, while “Ochra Gumbo” and “Chicken Gumbo” used okra as a base. Four years later, the cookbook La Cuisine Creole documented eight varieties of gumbo. None used sausage, but almost all of them contained ham.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumbo#/media/File:Gumbo-1764.JPG

.https://www.yahoo.com/food/the-history-of-gumbo-82790044364.html

>via: http://afrodiaspores.tumblr.com/post/133868805070/thecivilwarparlor-this-is-the-earliest-known

RETREAT

“There is no place on this planet, no ground, no air, no sanctuary, no wharf, no hermitage, no refuge, no time, like the one week each summer when Black poets descend on an unsuspecting space and it becomes Cave Canem.”
—Nikky Finney, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South

Cave Canem’s week-long retreat is held annually at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Adult African American poets, ages 21 and over, are eligible to apply. Once accepted, poets become “fellows.” Most are invited to attend two additional retreats within a four-year period. Fellows who complete three years are considered “graduate fellows.”

A retreat residency offers an unparalleled opportunity to study with a world-class faculty and join a community of peers. Some fellows hail from the spoken word tradition, others focus on the text. Some are formalists, others work at the cutting edge of experimentation. All are united by a common purpose to improve their craft and find safe space “where black poets, individually and collectively, can inspire and be inspired by others, relieved of any obligation to explain or defend their blackness.” (Harryette Mullen)

Tuition, valued at $1,500, is provided free of charge. Participants are asked to pay a $560 room-and-board fee. Limited financial assistance for room and board is available on the basis of need. Participants are encouraged to seek alternative sources of support— for example, scholarships and grants.

Cave Canem’s fiscal health and long-term sustainability depend on the philanthropy of its fellowship. Graduate fellows who give back to Cave Canem play a critical role in ensuring that the next generation of poets enjoys the same opportunities they did. A recent graduate wrote, “I choose to donate to this organization because not giving to Cave Canem is like not giving to myself.” Fellows are strongly encouraged to make an annual gift to sustain the program that nurtured their own professional and creative growth.

View video highlights from past Cave Canem retreats.

Retreat FAQS

Apply for a Retreat Internship

2016 RETREAT

When: June 12-19, 2016
Where: University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, PA, & City of Asylum/Pittsburgh
Faculty: As of October 20, 2015: Cornelius Eady, Willie Perdomo, Amber Flora Thomas & Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon.

Application Period: October 6 — December 4, 2015, 11:59 pm.

Application Guidelines | Apply Online

Returning Fellows: Registration due January 8, 2016, 11:59 pm.
Fellows eligible to return  will be contacted in November 2015 with registration guidelines. (Do not apply on line using the link above.) Questions? Call Programs Director Nicole Sealey at 718.858.0000.

>via: http://www.cavecanempoets.org/retreat

Call for Commentaries

#BattleGroundMidwest

the AMSJ Blog

>via: https://amsjournal.wordpress.com/2015/10/21/battlegroundmidwest-call-for-commentary/

>via: http://repeatingislands.com/2015/11/23/call-for-submissions-the-diaz-ayala-library-travel-grant-2016/