Arts Today Ezine vol 4.8 by Arts Today Ezine

Vol 4.8

OCTOBER 29, 2017

Bo HARRIS

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER pg #98

DR. MALAIKA

HORNE

W.E.B Dubois Still Relevant... pg #110

View this and past issues from our website.

A REPUBLIC

GEM OF...

TAP DYNAMICS...

pg. #10

pg. #26

pg.#46

PIERRE BLAINE

AUGUST WILSON

MARIAH L. RICHARDSON

So Reel

October 18, 2017

ECONOMIC JUSTICE: LESSONS IN CONNECTION FROM THE COWRY COLLECTIVE How can we assure that everyone has access to resources they need for themselves and their families? How does the “sharing economy” contradict narratives of individualism and competition? How do we connect to create the abundance that can lift whole communities? Cowry shells were used as currency thousands of years ago in Ancient Africa and today the tradition continues with The Cowry Collective, a local network of people engaged in the reciprocal exchange of services, skills, and goods. Founder and CEO Chinyere E. Oteh will share her experience in applying the theories of alternative currency to the everyday practice of community building through timebanking.

Bonus Resources Informational tables with staff who can connect you with: MOST 529 College Savings Plans – Angela Williams, Institutional Relationship Manager St. Louis Community Credit Union – Major DeBerry, Director of Business Development

Wed., October 18 5:30-7:30pm Phyllis Wheatley Heritage Center 2711 Locust St. Louis, MO 63103

Panelist: Chinyere E. Oteh Founder and CEO The Cowry Collective

Questions? Contact Mary Ferguson mferguson@ywcastlouis.org

http://cowrycollective.org/

Light refreshments

Free Admission

RSVP to http://bit.ly/YWCACowryCollective YWCA Metro St. Louis 3820 West Pine Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108 (314) 531-1115 www.ywcastlouis.org

pg.

Past Issues

Translate

View this email in your browser

O22 is Nat'l Day of Protest Against Police Brutality The Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression is holding its 19th annual O22 event. Come to St. Louis City Hall to bury the old policing and imagine a new, holistic vision of public safety. We'll be holding a brief rally and ceremony and then breaking into three teach-ins: 1) Community Policing--What could it really be? 2) Know Your Rights 3) Policing and Surveillance--What are the risks and what's happening to stop it. #Expect Us is holding their O22 event right after ours, so come make it an afternoon and evening of protest and liberation!

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

IN THIS

ISSUE:

IN THE NEWS POLITICAL HISTORY...

A REPUBLIC PIERRE BLAINE

26 SIUE'S DEPARTMENT OF DANCE... AUGUST WILSON

A SCHOLAR ACTIVIST... DR. MALAIKA HORNE

ABSENT EVIDENCE DR. JERRY WARD

HISTORICALLY BLACK... JONATHAN CLARKE

pg.

No major discipline problems

our mentorship program with Infinite Scholars, the Moline Acres Police Department wishes to the hopes and dreams of families in our community wishing to send their children to college. te Scholars program uses it extensive nationwide network of 500+ colleges and universities to ege scholarship for students who achieve the criteria above. The Moline Acres Police ent is committed to helping our students accomplish these criteria. The motto for this program dges Create Scholars.â&#x20AC;?

cres is located in North St. Louis County, Missouri. To learn more, contact the Moline Acres partment at 314-868-2433 or Infinite Scholars at 314-499-6997.

LIVE / WORK / PLAY NATE JOHNSON

OP/ED SECTION INFINITE SCHOLARS

Pictured are Moline Acres Chief of Police Colonel Ware, Police Officer Donaldson, and students Charmaine and Charles.

TAP DYNAMICS... MARIAH L. RICHARDSON

AFRICAN AMERICAN... BERNIE HAYES ...Listen people... Life is a giant, invisible scale with two sides; Good and bad You and your beliefs Are the weights The things you do each day Determine the balance Your conscience is a flawless Judge and jury; It only questions you when you're wrong...

The Temptations,

"You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth" (Regarding the last line of this quote from "You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth": "It only questions you when you're wrong" Sang by The Temptations on the recording. "The only question is what you want" Written by: BARRETT STRONG, NORMAN WHITFIELD, NORMAN J. WHITFIELD)

Established 2014 Volume 4.8 St. Louis, MO www.the-arts-today.com/ Layout/Design www.bdesignme.com

NOTE:

As the publishers of The Arts Today Ezine we take care in the production of each issue. We are however, not liable for any editorial error, omission, mistake or typographical error. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of their respective companies or the publisher.

This Ezine and the content published within are subject to copyright held by the publisher, with individual articles remaining property of the named contributor. Express written permission of the publisher and contributors must be acquired for reproduction.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

IN THE NEWS

Ben Swann ANTHEM OUTRAGE REALITY CHECK ft. Colin Kaepernick

pg.

Your Source for Art Appreciation

Volume 2.1 March 4, 2015

St. Louis

Please support our sponsors, many of-

fer events or programs with an emphasis on the arts and creativity.

#ArtsTodayEZ

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.84.8 Volume October 29, 2017 October 29, 2017

Missouri v. Celia a Slave:

[

She killed the white master raping her, then claimed self-defense

]

By DeNeen L. Brown

Celia was facing the gallows when she went on trial in 1855 for the murder of the white slave owner who had been raping her. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

READ MORE... pg.

Walking the Blue Line: A Police Officer Turned Community Activist Provides Solutions for the Racial Divide By Terrell Carter Bettie Youngs Book Publishers

$15.00 paperback

“As I recall my experiences, I find it incredulous that people in law enforcement honestly believe and say that a racial divide and racial profiling don’t exist. An officer’s mind is divided: first, between the police and the general public and second, between the police and minorities.”~ Terrell Carter Walking the Blue Line follows the author’s experiences growing up as a black child in St. Louis, MO, a racially charged city still trying to overcome its divided past, and his five year journey as a law enforcement officer which led him to reevaluate his views on citizens and police alike. Readers are taken on a compelling journey as he details personal stories of the challenges of navigating this new world, including how he had to testify against a former partner for falsifying a major drug arrest. Terrell details the thoughts and tactics of police officers based on their training in the police academy and lessons they learn on the streets and how this information can help citizens better understand why officers do what they do while still holding them accountable for protecting and serving their communities. Walking the Blue Line can be ordered from www.terrellcarter.net, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and traditional booksellers.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

RE PU BL IC pg.

he authority of the sovereign to rule runs into a basic conflict with the rights of the individual if that authority goes too far in the American ideal of democracy. Our obligation as Americans lies in our autonomy and refusal to be ruled when it is not in our best interests. Some writers have argued that this moves us towards anarchism- but the American ideal shows that we can agree to disagree but we do not have to become disagreeable in the process- and the process of disagreements that has the best hope for humankind is - democracy.

Democracy-rule of the people has taken several forms and since the development of the Internet some have called for the advent of direct democracy. Unanimous direct democracy is a political community in which every person votes on every issue but the acceptance of every issue is governed by the rule of unanimity. Freedom truly prevails in this system because every citizen wills his own laws and thus governs himself. Under unanimous direct democracy it is argued that one can abolish the conflict between the duty of autonomy with the commands of authority of the state. However, this system only works if one can develop substantial consensus among the members of the community. Obviously, this does not mean that there will not be disagreements among members of the community, only that when the people come together to accept laws they create- the laws will be accepted unanimously. Kant points out that men are responsible for their actions. Since man is responsible to himself to choose and determine what he ought to do, it follows that if a community unanimously decides what it ought to do then they should obey themselves. Moral autonomy is a combination of freedom and responsibility. It is also a submission to laws which one has made for oneself and therefore each member is the authority over himself/herself. The difficulty with implementing this type of democracy is that disagreements on any issue destroy unanimity and therefore some means for settling disputes must be developed that does not deprive any member of their autonomy. Unanimous direct democracy underlies the myth which prevails the entire mentality of what America is and perpetuates the misconception of American freedom. The other problem is that even though the Internet has given us the capability to create a national townhall meeting to address issues in this way, the country is too large for this to be practical. But, in the beginning of the Republic, the Founding Fathers moved toward a representative democracy with majoritarianism. It appears that the origins of parliaments had nothing to do with solving the problems of unanimous democracy. In the beginning was the Parliament and then there was universal suffrage â&#x20AC;&#x201C; seemingly the tail waged the dog which defies the laws of physics but nothing is impossible with politics. The Founding Fathers comfortable with the concept of representative government, developed the bi-cameral Congress. Should a responsible autonomous wom-

an commit herself to obey the laws made by her representatives? We understand that the representatives we send to Washington D.C. are not agents with a proxy to vote as that proxy dictates. On the contrary, representatives are sent to Washington on a general platform and no one really knows how that representative will act in the future. So, the question becomes how can we be free if our representatives vote independently of our wishes? The system of elective guardianship or political stewardship is very similar to Plato’s philosopher-king and falls far short of the ideal of autonomy and self-rule. Indeed, the secrecy with which our government works has become a reality since the rise and fall of the “Nixon Empire, the Reagan Empire and Bush 11 Empire”. In none of the major decisions which are made in America is there the slightest relation between the real reasons determining official policy and the information given to Americans through the “free press”. The Press has a responsibility to ask the questions even if the sources within the Administration are not forthcoming. Government officials cry foul when they are pressed to articulate the reasons for policy and obfuscate with “Well, it was done to preserve national security”, however when the same techniques are used by countries the United States disagrees with then it is called propaganda and misinformation. The people are asked to just trust the President to say what he means and mean what he says. Allocating only a part of the truth is probably worse than not telling the truth at all. The American people are not naïve spectators on the world scene they understand that we live in a dangerous world and there are people who want to do us harm. The American people will not tolerate being misled purposely for ends we don’t understand which lead us to wrongheaded conclusions and poor policy which is not in the best interest of the United States or the world. Does representative government rob the electors of their freedoms? Do Americans show their preferences at the polls when electing their representatives? The real question is can Americans show their preferences at the polls? There are many of us who feel that the 2000 Presidential Election in America was stolen. The decision of the Supreme Court in Gore v. Bush rendered the American voter helpless in the election of the office of President of the United States. The analysis of the aftermath demonstrates a political hurricane that swept through the south ending in Florida. The voting machine levies just could not withstand the high winds of corruption that pervaded the Republican Party in the state of Florida. The state of Florida was delivered to George W. Bush by his brother Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida and the Secretary of State Katherine Harris who also was part of the campaign to elect George W. Bosh President. It is a mystery how the Democrats allowed such a blatant misuse of power to disenfranchise American citizens in an election. The tampering with the ballots was only overshadowed by direct manipulation by the Florida Secretary of State office in the way overvotes were handled to deny the election to Al Gore. Even the so-called checks and balances of the American system were no match for the Republican Party since they were in control over all three branches of government. Lord Acton’s warning that ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ is clearly an understatement when one looks at the Supreme Court decision in Gore v. Bush. Justice Stevens in his dissent laid out the basic cornerstone on which the American Copyright © 2017 - All rights reserved.

system rests is that the Nation expects that the judge is an impartial guardian of the rule of law. In Justice Ginsberg’s dissent, she points out that any disagreement with the Florida court’s interpretation of its State’s law did not warrant the Supreme Court’s conclusion that the Florida State Supreme Court legislated. It is very ironic that the dissenters in this case at the federal level seem to be arguing for States rights when Ginsberg argues that the U.S. Supreme Court has given deference to the State Supreme Court in its interpretation of its own State laws. Ginsberg’s point is that it takes an extraordinary case that comes before the Court to reject outright an interpretation of state law by a state high court. Justice Breyer dissents that the Florida Supreme Court concluded that counting every legal vote was the overriding concern of the Florida Legislature when it enacted the Florida State’s Election Code. Do we live in a country in which the rule of law is colorblind, fair, and equitable or is it political? The 2000 Presidential Election and subsequent decision by the Supreme Court points to the fact that in many ways Presidential politics and the election of a President influences the Court and the type of Supreme Court we have in America. The current Supreme Court will continue to move in a more conservative direction in the application of the interpretation of law which is different than if a democratic President appointed justices to the Court. It means that if the Court continues in its conservative trajectory, that Roe v. Wade will be overturned and the rights of the mother to be in control over whether she should take a pregnancy to full term (with certain and absolute restrictions) will be taken from her. It means that discrimination that affects blacks in this country will no longer be addressed to the court system because discrimination no longer exists in America. The outrage that is festering about the inequality practiced in the American criminal justice system points to how power is used to continually deny rights to a certain segment of this country. Kevin Phillips points out quite convincingly that the Republicans have a history of using the courts to take elections in Presidential politics tracing it back to 1876. In that election, Rutherford Hayes, the republican and Samuel Tilden, the democrat squared off for the Presidency with Hayes winning a decision by the 15 member electoral commission with the Republican Supreme Court Justice Joseph Bradley casting the decisive vote. In many cases it can be harrowing to make direct comparisons to historical events such as this because generally, the context of events is different in different times. For example, the Republican Party during the Reconstruction period was considered Radical Republicans because they supported the eradication of slavery in America. As you may recall, the Reconstruction period was designed to help the Southern states reactivate their association to the Union after they lost the Civil War. It was also to give blacks the rights that the Constitution denied them because of slavery and immediately after the Civil War, the implementation of the Black Code laws in the South were used to deny what the Civil War had given – freedom. During 1865 -1877, Southern whites used terror, violence, election fraud, and intimidation to thwart the voting of blacks in order to gain control over state governments to reassert control over blacks through the Democratic Party. What the Reconstruction period shows us is that every time blacks assert the rights that we are entitled to by the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

A REPUBLIC... cont.

there is always a counter movement to take those rights back. The underlying unresolved issue is race and it continues to undermine the progress of the United States. The sharecropping system imposed on blacks during the Reconstruction period in effect put them back in a slave form of servitude and put their families in a perpetual form of debt. The purpose of Reconstruction in addition to bringing the South back into the Union was to create racial equality in America. Race was the backdrop behind the tension in this era as well; northerners concerned that the new Southern governors would appoint officials who had previously supported secession would continue to lead the South. White supporters of Reconstruction in the Congress wanted to move the country toward guaranteeing blacks political and civil rights because under the Constitution blacks counted only as 3/5 of a person. Congress responded with a Civil Rights Bill which gave freedmen the same rights as white men regardless of state laws. Blacks finally gained political power during this brief period creating opportunities once denied that were quite remarkable. John Menard of Louisiana made the first speech by an African-American in Congress in 1869. He was the first African-American elected to Congress in 1868 to fill the unexpired term of Congressman James Mann. Menard’s controversial entrée into the hollowed halls of the U.S. Congress chastised it for not allowing him to take his seat as Congressman. The interesting part of his speech delivered to the House of Representatives on February 23, 1869 was his insistence that the Congress not judge his appeal based on his race but rather the merits of the case. Central to his arguments for being allowed to be seated after winning the election in his district was that voters were deprived of their right to go to the polls and vote. He cited the falling off of votes that was caused by threats, intimidations and outright fraud committed in his district. He also cited that the votes that were undercounted were mostly Republican votes most of whom were ‘colored’ voters. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and was one of several white Radical Republicans that supported the ending of slavery and fought to grant blacks economic and political rights in the U. S. Sumner prodded President Lincoln to permit black soldiers to take up arms and fight in the Civil War. He helped lay the groundwork for what became the Emancipation Proclamation and fought to implement the Reconstruction policy and the Freedman’s Bureau to help create employment for the newly freed blacks. Sumner encouraged his colleagues to accept the first black U.S. Senator. In 1870 Senator Hiram Revels from Mississippi became the first black Congressman to fill the seat of Jefferson Davis, who resigned his Senate seat to become the president of the Confederacy. Revels like Menard before him was challenged as to whether he was qualified to be seated as the elected Congressman of Mississippi. It is clear that the objections against Revels being articulated by some Congressmen were based solely on Revels’ color of his skin. Former Congressman William Clay in his book Just Permanent Interests – Black Americans in Congress 1870-1991 makes the point that the Civil War decided that blacks would no longer be slaves in America, and even though Hiram Revels was not born a slave but a free man, the Congress challenged his qualification to be seated as a duly elected Congressman. Hiram finally won the day and served with distinction for one year and a month.

pg.

American progressives have always pushed this country to fulfill the promise of what it truly means to be American and what freedom means. Unfortunately, that has always made such people to be labeled as radicals and trouble makers- unpatriotic. During this period of time the labels were carpetbaggers and scalewags- the terms were meant to be derogatory and to discourage people from standing up to say that the Constitution meant that freedom shall apply to all people –citizens of the United States of America. The blacks that were finally brought to the table understood that freedom for them meant, the ability to vote, to run for office, to be seated in the various branches of government once they won, to buy and own property, to be educated and to be able to make a living. It is amazing that these ideas of citizenship are exactly the same values that white Americans want and demand from their government. And yet blacks were denied, challenged, killed, lynched and legislated out of the rights that were included in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of America. It is glaring how that same ideology transcends historical context and continues to creep into the future of American society. If I hadn’t cited these episodes in the historical vanguards of our national culture, it sounds eerily like the year 2000 or 2004 or 2007 when America should be entering a new age in the 21st century and all such horrible and despicable nightmares should be behind us in the dust heap of history of a tale long long ago… In fact, even though in the 21st century the supporters of conservatism did not see how history was repeating itself and being implemented in the rhetoric of traditional American institutions and values. Are we as Americans willing to fight to maintain our democracy? After Benjamin Franklin came out of the meeting of just creating the blueprint of what was about to become the United States of America – a woman asks – Well, Dr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us. He replied, “A republic if you can keep it.” Pierre Blaine author of: Movement: Race, Power and Culture in Amerca Available on Amazon. com and Missouri History Museum.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

OP / ED SECTION

Moline Acres Police Department College Scholarship Program in partnership with Infinite Scholars Program

The Moline Acres Police Department College Scholarship Program wishes to acknowledge some of the students in our city that have accepted the promise of a college scholarship for accomplishing the following criteria: 1. 2. 3. 4.

95 percent school attendance 3.3 or better cumulative grade average 22 or better composite ACT score No major discipline problems

Through our mentorship program with Infinite Scholars, the Moline Acres Police Department wishes to help fulfill the hopes and dreams of families in our community wishing to send their children to college. The Infinite Scholars program uses it extensive nationwide network of 500+ colleges and universities to find a college scholarship for students who achieve the criteria above. The Moline Acres Police Department is committed to helping our students accomplish these criteria. The motto for this program is â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our Badges Create Scholars.â&#x20AC;? Moline Acres is located in North St. Louis County, Missouri. To learn more, contact the Moline Acres Police Department at 314-868-2433 or Infinite Scholars at 314-499-6997.

Pictured are Moline Acres Chief of Police Colonel Ware, Police Officer Donaldson, and students Charmaine and Charles.

pg.

Editorial Rebeccah Bennett TRUTH: This is not the first time that this country has been run by a bigot. It is not the first time that we have experienced political isolation and social rejection. Founder and principal of Emerging Wisdom LLC.

nd it is not the first time that we have had to figure out how to metabolize our grief and fear in ways that did not immobilize us, but caused us to actualize our power to change the world.

PERSPECTIVE:

Right

and forefathers lived through horrors that were generational in scope and scale. They persisted through times when there was little chance of a better tomorrow, much less a better life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not even for their kids. Yet they responded to their lot in life by creating resistance movements, aid societies, educational and religious institutions, banks and co-ops, art forms, innovations and spiritual practices that continue to make our lives

better today. Remember that their blood is our blood. Their strength is our strength. They are the ROOTS and we are their FRUITS.

PRAYER:

We call upon our ancestors, those upon whom the sky fell. We call upon our ancestors who experienced all manner of degradation, humiliation, violation and death. We call upon our ancestors, people who swung from trees and were forced to live on their knees. We call upon our ancestors, many of whom persisted, survived and endured without destroying themselves or others. May whatever it is that nourished and sustained them come more fully alive in us. Ashe.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

World Premier Tour

2017/2018

SEASON

Games DaD didn t play

TOURING

SEPT. 18 – OCT. 27, 2017 PUBLIC PERFORMANCES:

SEPT. 16 -17 SAT at 7 PM | SUN at 2PM THE GRANDEL THEATRE PLAY HONORED AT:

“The Purple Crayon Player’s PLAYground Festival of Fresh Works”

Write your own story! Lucas and his mom are starting over: a whole new city, a whole new school, a whole new beginning. Games Dad Didn’t Play follows Lucas in his new life as he struggles to come to terms with everything he doesn’t remember, or want to believe, about his dad in prison. So he imagines a whole new dad; one who hadn’t hurt anyone. As the stories of his imaginary dad become more elaborate, Lucas’ new best friend, Eddie, grows suspicious. When Eddie learns the truth, he accuses Lucas of being as “bad” as his father. Unsure of what to do, Lucas lashes out. Eventually, with a little help from mom, Lucas begins to understand he doesn’t have to repeat his father’s “scared mistakes.” He may not be able to change what happened in the past, but he can make his own choices. Lucas chooses to repair his friendship with Eddie, use his words instead of fighting and write his own story for the future.

BEST ENJOYED BY:

Adults and Young People 2nd–8th grade

RUN TIME:

50 minutes

MORE INFO CONTACT: Michael Perkins, Community Engagement Manager at Michael@metroplays.org or call at 314.932.7414 x106

metroplays.org

His dad is in prison. He’s starting a new school. Lucas is writing a new chapter in his life, but his past cannot be ignored. pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

IVE WORK PLAY

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017 St. Louis

hope that you are doing well. Yes, I know that we are just about halfway through the month. Skipping the letter this month was certainly tempting for me, but I must admit that it wouldn't feel right if I didn't point out a few things that are going on in St. Louis over the couple of weeks. I couldn't have said it any better than L.M. Montgomery when her character Anne of Green Gables said "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." I hope that you will join me in enjoying the rest of this splendid month!

OCTOBER

thru

OCTOBER

Tonight, aka Friday, celebrate the fall season in Clayton at Shaw Park with a candy hunt, hay rides inflatables, crafts, games and activities at the annual Party in the Patch! Also on Friday night, hip-hop artist Andy Mineo will be taking the stage at the Pageant. His reflective lyrics have have been the key to his success selling out nation-wide tours. If hip-hop isn't your style, Leftover Salmon, The Infamous Stringdusters, & Keller Williams are at the Old Rock House's Outdoor Pavilion on Saturday. There is no better way to enjoy the sounds of these string bands than under the fall moonlight! Tomorrow, you can head down to Tower Grove Park for the 4th annual No Place Like Home 5K Fun Run! Later tomorrow afternoon, while you are in the neighborhood, you can join me for a stroll down South Grand for their 2nd annual Chalk Walk where the community comes together to celebrate artistic talent, fresh air, music, food, and activities for the kids! Did I mention that South Grand was just named one of the 10 Great Streets in America for 2017 by the American Planning Association!? While you are strolling tomorrow, maybe check out the Old Webster Art Walk, a self guided walking tour in the heart of the Webster Groves business district. Bring your furry friends out to the Boathouse at Forest Park for The 14th Annual Paddle With your Pooch Boat Race on Sunday. A portion of

pg.

Local Events OCTOBER

the proceeds will go to keeping Forest Park a staple of our beautiful city. Sauce Magazine is hosting the 11th Annual Harvest Festival at Laumeier Sculpture Park in South County on Sunday. Come and enjoy some of the best food and drinks St. Louis has to offer!

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

IVE WORK PLAY

Betsy Belanger is hosting a Haunted History Tour of the famous Lemp Brewery in downtown St. Louis. On Monday night at 7 p.m. meet at Lemp Brewery and see why it is so famously haunted. Whitney Cummings will grace the state at the Pageant on Tuesday night. With a night full of jokes and great one liners, she is sure to have you laughing the whole show. Hassan Hajjaj art exhibit is opening on Wednesday at projects+gallery in the Central West End. Hassan's work is a clash of culture, mediums, traditions, and artistic movements.

OCTOBER

16 thru

OCTOBER

Boo at the Zoo starts Wednesday night at the St. Louis Zoo. This kid-friendly Halloween experience is non-scary and filled with laughs and adventure. It is encouraged to dress your children up in costume and children 12 and under will receive a goody back upon exiting the Zoo. On Wednesday, The Blues will face off against the Chicago Blackhawks. 7 p.m. is puck drop. See it in person at the Scottrade Center, or tune in on TV. It's going to be a great game. Go Blues! John Mulaney will be in town on Thursday night at the beautiful Peabody Opera House downtown. John Mulaney's Kid Gorgeous Tour will sure to have you laughing. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are still available. Make Friday a night with the family and watch Hamlet at The Repertory Theatre in Webster Groves. This is the first time in 50 years the Repertory Theatre has produced this classic Shakespeare play. It will not be one to miss. Janet Jackson will be performing her State of the World Tour at Chaifetz Arena on Saturday night. Tickets are still available. Also on Friday, catch it before it's gone, The Contemporary Arts Museum latest exhibit, Mickalene Thomas: Mentors, Muses, and Celebrities, an exhibition of film, video, photography, and installation by the New York-based artist. The corn maze in Godfrey, Illinois is back again this year. The maze opens 11 a.m on Saturday so it makes the perfect Saturday getaway just north of St. Louis. Rock out to Queens of the Stone Age at the Peabody Opera House on Sunday. With Josh Homme as lead vocalist, the concert is sure to have you vibing to the beat. Start your Sunday early with a Trick or Treat 5k or 10k. GO! St. Louis Halloween Race is back this year to provide runners a race with a Halloween twist. The race starts on Market Streetdowntown and instead of water stops, there will be trick-or-treat stops where runners will receive candy. Make sure to register you team ahead of the race.

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

IVE WORK PLAY

Head on out to the International Photography Hall of Fame to view Jason Hailey's: The Selective Eye- Photography as Abstraction. Jason Hailey has a passion to increase visual awareness to aesthetic values that flow from his abstract interpretations of commonplace products and discarded debris. The love will be in the air on Wednesday night, so grab a date and watch Heisenberg, the play, at The Repertory Theatre in Webster Groves. Heisenberg is a romantic play of a love story that starts in a train station in London. The love will be in the air on Wednesday night. Venture Cafe in Cortex is celebrating their 3rd Birthday and they are partnering with Deloitte on Thursday to talk about major trends in the marketplace giving awareness to new solutions. Learn more about how Deloitte is identifying, defining and driving innovation in the small business community & around the world.

OCTOBER

23 thru

The legendary Jerry Seinfeld will be performing his stand up at The Fabulous Fox Theatre in Downtown St. Louis. The Seinfeld Show star is back to his roots performing stand up comedy to a live audience. On Friday, head over to the Smartest Happy Hour in St. Louis at the The Ripple Effect Tedx event at the Touhill! Hear 14 Tedx talks and connect with some great folks!

OCTOBER

Get in the Halloween spirit with a lantern guided ghost tour in St. Genevieve. You will explore the historic downtown along with the oldest cemetery in Missouri. There will also be psychic reading with psychic Loving Rose. The Pumpkin Glow is back this year in Historic St. Charles. Come out to Main Street on Friday and Saturday and enjoy a street full of glowing jack-o-lanterns. Turn it into a full night out and enjoy a delicious dinner at one of the many restaurants located on Main Street St. Charles. Your family will enjoy Wagon rides, music, pony rides, funnel cakes and festival foods at the Pumpkin Jamboree in Eckert's Farm. The family will ride a wagon out to the pumpkin patch to pick the perfect pumpkin to carve. Pumpkins weigh anywhere from a couple pounds to 150 pounds. There is even a petting zoo to make this a fun-filled weekend for everyone! If your neighborhood does not get into the Halloween spirit, you can stop by one of the following locations for a fun Trick-or-Treat Experience. Click the link to find the Trick or Treat location nearest you! Halloween Trick or Treat

pg.

Yes, we have a great rest of the month ahead of us! Please let me know if there is anything that I can do for you. All the best. -Nate

P.S. Check out the latest Housing Report , or give me a call or email to see what the real estate market is doing in St. Louis. Let me know what questions I can answer for you. We would love to help you achieve your real estate goals!

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

DISPLACED

&ERASED

The history of Clayton, Missouri's uprooted black community. emmakriley.com

pg.

PRESENTED BY A Call to Conscience

Friday

FUNDED BY

The

T. D. McNeal

STORY

From Servitude to Civil Rights Gregory S. Carr DIRECTED BY Fannie Belle Lebby WRITTEN BY

A Call to Conscience will present The T. D. McNeal Story: From Servitude to Civil Rights, a

play that chronicles McNeal’s role in organizing the The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters’ Union in the 1930s and 1940s, his involvement in St. Louis lunch counter sit-ins in 1944, his successful campaign regarding the hiring of African Americans in the public utilities and the defense industry in St. Louis, and his election as the first African American state senator in Missouri. The following panelists will lead a discussion after the presentation:

OCT 20 and Saturday

OCT 21 Resource fair: 6pm Performance: 7pm Lee Auditorium

FREE Gwen Moore Moderator and curator of the #1 in Civil Rights exhibition

Percy Green

Vernon Mitchell, Ph.D.

Joan Suarez

Jamala Rogers

Christi Griffin, J.D.

Ron Gregory, Ph.D.

Now Open! | Free admission #1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis examines the local civil rights movement and the city’s leading role in advancing the cause of racial justice. From ground-level activism to groundbreaking court rulings, St. Louis has been front and center in contesting racial inequities. #1 in Civil Rights uncovers a history that’s compelling and complex, but that all too often has been overlooked in the telling and retelling of the larger national narrative. PRESENTED BY

COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND PROGRAM SPONSOR William T. Kemper Foundation—Commerce Bank, Trustee

SPONSORED BY

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Maxine Clark and Bob Fox

JSM Charitable Trust

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Photo pub: Myy Moffett (standing), Justin Truman (sitting) Photo pub 2: Justin Truman (light jacket), Myy Moffett, Mitch Fesser (dark jacket) Photos courtesy of Valerie Goldston

pg.

SIUE’s Department of Theater & Dance Season Opens

Gem of the Ocean by: August Wilson

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Theater and Dance Campus Box 1777 Edwardsville, Illinois 62026-1777 Contact: Kim Bozark 618-650-5347

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SIUE’s Department of Theater & Dance Season Opens Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson Set in 1904, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean begins on the eve of Aunt Esther’s birthday. When Citizen Barlow comes to her Pittsburgh’s Hill District home seeking asylum, she sets him off on a spiritual journey to find a city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Gem of the Ocean is the ninth work in Wilson’s ten-play cycle that has recorded the American Black experience and helped to define generations. The Broadway run starred Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad as Aunt Esther. States the New York Times, “Gem has passages of transporting beauty. Mr. Wilson is at the top of his form.” Variety says, “Slow-burning, powerfully spiritual drama.” Gem of the Ocean will be presented on the SIUE Katherine Dunham Theater stage starting October 11 – 14 at 7:30 p.m. and on October 15 at 2:00 p.m. only.

Kathryn Bentley, the production’s director and Associate Professor of Performance in SIUE’s Department of Theater & Dance, leads the creative team consisting of Jonah Sheckler, scenic design, Laura Hanson, costume design, James Wulfsong, lighting design, Travis Barnhart, sound design, Kate Slovinski, props design, Nathan Beilsmith, assistant costume designer, Taylor Baer, stage manager, and Nigel Knutzen, assistant stage manager. Festival Activities are Free Admission! Show ticket prices are general admission at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, non-SIUE students with a valid school I.D., free admission for SIUE students with a valid I.D., and $10 for SIUE retirees, alumni, faculty and staff. Discounted tickets are available for groups of ten or more. Call the Theater & Dance Box Office for more information or to purchase tickets at 618-650-2774 or toll free at 1-888-3285168, extension 2774 or for questions you can send us a mes-

Come see the play, but don’t miss the following exciting festival activities: Wednesday, October 11- “Sitting at the Feet of an Elder” Professor Emeritus Johnetta Haleyshares her life story at 1:30 p.m. at the Lovejoy Library, Friends’corner; Friday, October 13-Immediately following the evening performance, there will be a post-show discussion, “African American History and the Long Sojourn for Freedom” which will involve the show’s Director and cast, and will be moderated by Dr. Jessica Harris, Assoc. Professor, Historical Studies and Director of Black Studies. Saturday, October 14-Come enjoy a screening of “The Ground on Which I Stand” a look at August Wilson and followed by a panel discussion. The screening will be at 3:00 p.m. in the Katherine Dunham Hall Theater. August Wilson (April 27, 1945-October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of the descendants of Africans in North America, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century, forming the compilation entitled, THE AMERICAN CENTURY CYCLE. His plays have been produced on Broadway, at regional theaters across the country and all over the world. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. Copyright © 2017 - All rights reserved.

sage at theater-tickets@siue.edu. Visit our website at www.siue. edu/artsandsciences/theater. SIUE’s Department of Theater & Dance presents four plays and one dance concert during its October through April season. All productions are open to the community at large. The Department of Theater & Dance is part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Hello, I would love it if you took a moment to check out my GoFundMe campaign: CLICK GOFUNDME LINK BELOW TO DONATE https://www.gofundme.com/black-archaeologist-season-4

Your support would mean a lot to me. Thank you so much!

- Michael Lambert

Black Archaeologist. pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Saturday, November 4, 2017

560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave., University City, MO 63130 7:30PM Awards Ceremony, 8:00PM Curtain

pg.

Individual Tickets $250 Tickets: Pre-and Post-Show Reception Valet Parking $100 Tickets: 2 Drink Tickets Valet Parking $50 Tickets: Valet Parking Sponsorship Opportunities are still available Contact Gale Ingram Phone: (314) 885-3333 E-mail: galei@theblackrep.org To purchase tickets call The Black Rep Box Office Phone: 314 534-3810 or Click here to purchase individual tickets

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

A Scholar Activist Receives

WES Award A SCHOLAR ACTIVIST RECEIVES WES AWARD

“Gerald Horne,

like W.E.B. DuBois, is a scholar activist in the finest sense of the word.”

This was just one of many

accolades bestowed on Professor Horne, honored with the WES Award on Saturday evening, September 22 at the St. Louis Workers’ Education Society, 2929 S. Jefferson in South St. Louis. A culturally diverse group of about 60 gathered at the “political home” of WES to honor the scholar and prolific author, considered by many as one of the leading intellectuals of his time. He is the first to receive the award. Dr. Horne, African American, is an endowed professor of history and African American history at the University of Houston. He also taught at the University of Zimbabwe and Hong Kong University. He has a doctorate in history from Columbia University, a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor’s in political science from Princeton University. In 2014, he received the Carter G. Woodson Scholar’s Medallion for Lifetime Achievement, presented by the Association for the Study of African Life and History. In 2017, he received the Ida B. Wells and Cheik Anto Diop Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Leadership in Africana Studies, presented by the National Council for Black Studies,

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

A SCHOLAR ACTIVIST... cont.

Born and reared in St. Louis, he’s a product of the St. Louis Public School System, graduating from Beaumont High School in 1966 as the valedictorian and president of his class with several scholarship offers from the nation’s top elite universities. He, with the wise counsel of his parents, chose Princeton. He received the distinguished Harvard Book Award while in high school and was editor of the school’s newspaper. What makes Horne’s brilliance even more remarkable is that he’s from an intellectual working-class family whose parents, particularly his mother, delved deeply into and discussed forthrightly with their children about the injustices of Jim Crow and the often debilitating and convulsing effects on African Americans. As a result of her insight into this nation’s hyper-racialized system, both his parents worked extra hard to ensure their children’s future success. Some may think those who engage in manual labor (and their children) are not predisposed to intellectualism that is, analyzing, evaluating, addressing and solving complex problems, but au contraire, as Horne is a living embodiment of working-class intellectualism and he could possibly begin to demystify this negative stereotype. His two sisters (for the sake of disclosure, this writer is one them) spoke at the program about their brother, of course, in very glowing terms. Gwen Moore, Missouri History Museum, curator of #1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis, waxed eloquently about Gerald’s unique blend of scholarship and activism as well as his willingness to give time and energy to frequently ignored aspects of

pg.

Black history, heretofore erased. Thus Horne who not only carved out a unique niche among historians with his hefty body of work with “groundbreaking and exceptional scholarship,” but also doing it on his own terms.

That is to say, he’s not part of that small elite group

engaging in frenzied cash grabs for speaker fees, TV network contracts and overly monetized book deals. This writer also spoke of Gerald coming from an extraordinary family whose siblings more or less became activists. ‘Our mother was a race woman and we learned at her knee about racism, social injustice and other inhumanities. Our father had a fierce work ethic and was a Teamster (member of Local 688).’ Tony Pecinovsky, union organizer and WES president, told the audience about the vision of their organization. For many years, the building on Jefferson served as a union hall. Having been boarded up since the union moved out, they purchased it, envisioning a program “unique and intentionally formed” for “educating and training people of color, women and youth, to become community leaders.” Their brochure noted: ”Our focus is on the intersection of workers’ rights, racial justice, sexual and gender-minority rights and disabilities empowerment.”

Pecinovsky also writes regularly for the People’s

World and the St. Louis Labor Tribune, “one of the country’s oldest and most respected union papers.”

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

A SCHOLAR ACTIVIST... cont.

“I have read at least 25 of Gerald’s books which has created more depth of insight into the struggle of African American equality,” he told the audience. “His first book was Black & Red: W.E.B. DuBois & the Afro-American Response to the Cold War, 1944-1963. It foreshadowed many great works to come, writing more than 30 books, a monumental task.” Also noteworthy, Pecinosvsky said, is his unconventional approach, coined as Horne’s thesis, in explicating what undergirds the African American struggle. It entails throughout American history, African Americans sought allies abroad to break the shackles of slavery and then Jim Crow. It was a necessity for Black leaders and intellectuals to engage forcefully on the global stage as a pressure point here on the North American mainland. Pecinovsky showed Dr. Horne on an August 16, 2017 MSNBC TV news program, The Beat with Ari Melber, speaking about the disturbing demonstration

where

hordes

Neo-Nazis

and

other

White

supremacists -- mostly young White Males -- stormed the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia with tiki torches, spewing racist and antiSemitic chants. They were particularly miffed over the taking down of Robert E. Lee’s statue there. It tragically resulted in a young woman, Heather Heyer, being killed by a White supremacist. Throughout the country these statues of Confederate leaders have begun to vex many residents and city elected officials have been voting to have them taken down. Horne told Melber:

pg.

Would you like a printed copy(s) of an issue mailed to your home? Send your request to us by email **Remember to include the volume/issue** Cost may vary per issue.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

A SCHOLAR ACTIVIST... cont.

These statues were erected not only because they were designed to express White power but also antipathy and animosity to the newly freed enslaved population. Not only because of White supremacy but the abolition of slavery represented the confiscation of private property without compensation. And thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing like a lost fortune to make people angry particularly when that lost fortune is walking around the neighborhood acting cheeky about the matter.

Percy Green, veteran St. Louis activist, conversing with Dr. Gerald Horne, WES Awardee

When Horne addressed the WES group, he first recognized, Percy Green as his hero growing up in St. Louis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was shaped by reading about Percy Green who he lauded for his courageousness and forward thinking. Green -- original, bombastic and creative -- active in the local chapter of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and founder of ACTION, was renowned for his much derring-do. For example, July 14, 1964, he climbed 125 feet up a construction ladder on the

pg.

unfinished north leg to protest the project’s lack of African American workers. Speaking to the mostly union member crowd, Horne said: “You can’t begin to understand worker’s rights without understanding the abolition of slavery,” adding that “Canadians would like to see the right to work laws or the right to work less laws abolished.” Missouri is not a right to work state but State Senator Jason Crowell of Southeast Missouri has introduced Senate Bill 888. If passed into law, Missouri would join a number of states prohibiting agreements between employers and labor unions, including an established union requiring employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment. On the wall behind the podium where speakers stood was conspicuously displayed on three posters: “Black Lives Matter,” each word written on one of three medium-sized posters. It was obvious that the diverse group -- about half Black and half White, including the disabled -- was fired up in general about gross social and economic inequalities but fresh on their minds was the September 16th acquittal of former police officer Jason Stockley for the murder of Anthony Lamar Smith. Protests and demonstrations started the week before, rattling and rocking the city with sporadic vandalism and with what many viewed as an over-militarized police presence and reaction. Speaking on Black Lives Matter, Horne said, “Black Lives Matter is reaching out across the ocean and across borders and you are making

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

A SCHOLAR ACTIVIST... cont.

an impact.”

He also said the fact that “Amazon is thinking about

locating its second headquarters in St. Louis in the midst of serious police violence should have city fathers and mothers very worried.” All of Horne’s publications are too lengthy to note here. His latest book, the one shown on Melber’s MSNBC news show is: The Rise & Fall of the Associated Negro Press. Prior to that, he’s written the following, including: ♦ Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawaii ♦ W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography ♦ Mau in Harlem? The United States and the Liberation of Kenya ♦ Co-Editor: Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-First Century ♦ Blows of Empire: African-Americans and India In the publication Black Perspectives June 5, 2017, Phillip Luke Sinitiere, currently working on a biography of James Baldwin, referred to Horne’s “exhaustively researched” books. “. . . Horne wrote that Dubois did not just engage African and black America … He also recognized that the fate of both was influenced decisively by global currents …” Joining in the growing chorus recognizing Horne’s scholarship was Travis Braziel writing in Black Perspectives:

pg.

Thank you Dr. Sinitiere for highlighting Dr. DuBois’s scholarship as the foundation to Dr. Horne’s thirty odd books and one hundred plus scholarly articles. Perhaps we all should build or continue to build on that same foundation especially in light of the recent arrival of Black Lives Matter and the era of Trump. A group of St. Louis aldermen supportive of WES presented a Board of Aldermen Resolution to recognize Horne’s contributions to “African American Equality and Liberation.” In attendance to present it to Horne were aldermen Cara Spencer (20th), Dan Guenther (9th) and Sarah Martin (11th). Alaa Kamel and Elise Kruegger, WES members, read written remarks from colleagues across the country recognizing his scholarship and prodigious work ethic from universities such as Howard, Rutgers, Yale and George Washington. “He is the most prolific writer about history on the left,” said a professor. A large number of trade union organizations were included as “proud supporters” in the WES program booklet, such as The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 148; the or Greater St. Louis Labor Council and Patrick J. White, president and Painters DC 58. Said Pecinovsky: “Years from now, he will be recognized as a modern day W.E.B. DuBois.” Malaika Horne, PhD, is an academic writer and journalist.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

BLACK HISTORY BOY Episode # 3 of Black History Boy will coming the week of October 16 Join him as he time travels to visit the black Olmecs of ancient Mexico in the year 1000 B.C.

Black History Boy,

Black Archaeologist.com YouTube, TechNubian1 Facebook, I Love Black Archaeologist Twitter, @BlackArchaeologist

pg.

Join Creve Coeur Camera

on a Photo Adventure to New York City to shoot the city skylines, people, and everything that this wonderful metropolis has to offer. There are spectacular scenes and cityscapes to be seen and photographed, and of course amazing architecture. New York is defined by its buildings and its people, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be capturing it all. This trip is designed for the photographer who has an intermediate knowledge of his/her camera and it is designed to advance your eye as a photographer.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Jazz

Tap Dynamics with Live

oves. Smooth. Elegant. Feet tapping, responding to and creating improvisational rhythms of Jazz while his black shirt, like wet tissue paper, clung to his back. Jason

DanceSTL

felt like a bootlegging basement speakeasy. The set was minimal; band stage right and a blank scrim on the back wall that was used to reflect different light to match each part of the performance. It all was simple but magical at the same time. My only complaint is that the show could have been longer. How selfish of me, for I cannot imagine how much energy that tap dancing must require. I am grateful for the time I was given to lose myself in the magic this performance brought. DanceSTL has an education arm that brings dance into local schools. It is a way to continue to support the community by giving opportunity for and exposure to dance to schools that have had the heart of the arts cut from their regular curriculum. Tap Dynamics with Live Jazz made for a moving and memorable evening and I look forward to the next shows in the DanceSTL season; New Dance Horizons VI and Spring to Dance Festival.

Samuels Smith was a vision to behold. Smith, along with Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and Derick K. Grant created an evening of pure dance delight. The trio are the cast of Tap Dynamics with Live Jazz, a show that is part of 2017-18 DanceSTL season. The house of the Grandel Theater was packed to the rafters. Young and the young at heart all bore witness to a display of two true African American art forms; tap dancing and Jazz, all while celebrating three tunes of musical genius, Miles Davis. People shouted out of appreciation and amazement as the three along with the band; Allison Miller, Carmen Staff, and Noah Garabedian, drew us in and rocked our souls. The dancers are all award winning choreographers and improvographers (people who can Mariah is a lover of arts and educator. improvise dance and make you think they rehearsed for hours on that a specific routine), all with long lists of credits to their names. As an audience member, I was in awe of the complexity and the agility of each one of these hoofers. You could hear the conversation between musical instruments and that of the unbelievably precision and speed of the tapping feet. Smith, Edwards and Grant spoke a language that evokes and gives meaning to the journey of black people in this country. A language that speaks of hope and strength and beauty and survival, as reflected in the raised fists in a piece close to the end of the show. I wondered was it a nod to the current episode of the struggle of race our city finds itself in, today. But these performers were pure grace. They shared their hearts through their feet. They welcomed us, they embraced us, they comforted us. They reminded us of what can be created when you put your mind on truth, love and beauty. DanceSTL, along with Divine Rhythm Productions, did an incredible job of bringing this work to St. Louis. The Grandel Theater is a perfect space, in that it made the performance feel intimate. Upon walking into the house, the stage was awash in a traditional jazz blue light with a subtle wafting of smoke. It pg.

By Mariah L. Richardson

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Get Smart

QUICKBOOKS FOR NONPROFITS

Wednesday, Nov. 8 (Noon4:00 PM) and Wednesday, Nov. 15 (1:004:00 PM) at TechShop, 4260 Forest Park Drive

This twopart, handson training for PC users with little or no accounting or QuickBooks experience is team taught by Anders CPAs + Advisors. The training will cover both QuickBooks Pro (destop version) and QuickBooks Online and includes optional pre and postsessions on bookeeping basics and payroll. Tuition covers both days — November 8 and November 15. Sorry, no discounts for attending just one day. Seating is limited! Register at least 24 hours in advance and pay $40 per organization plus $15 for each additional person from the same organization. Tuition is $60 at the door.

pg.

Need artsrelated legal or accounting assistance? Apply here.

Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations feed our souls and put food on tables. Check out the local data.

House Calls Our FREE House Calls program offers handson training directly to arts organizations during their regular board meetings. The session includes a 20minute presentation by a VLAA volunteer or staff member, ten minutes for Q&A and handouts. Pick the date, time and location. Select the topic: Board Excellence, Financial Oversight, Legal Duties of Nonprofit Boards, Developing a Freedom of Expression Policy, The Art of Conflict Resolution or Evaluating Your Executive Director. To request a House Calls speaker, please call 314/8636930.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Circle of Light Associates

1515 VARNUM, St Louis, MO 63136 • $72,500 Residential | .265 acres • 3 bedrooms • 1 bathrooms • MLS# 17059099

This Beautiful Home is Ready for Family to move right in and Kick up their feet!! Your home has been completely rehabbed ready to pass all inspection!!

Rochelle DIXON Contact

pg.

Black History Boy, & The Black Olmecs Of Ancient Mexico 1000 B.C.

Season #1, Episode #3 YouTube, TechNubian1 The Black Olmecs / Black History Boy Ep. # 3

The Black Olmecs / Black History Boy Ep. # 3 A little black boy using a time machine visits ancient black people, kingdoms, cultures and civilizations from t...

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

thoughts of

African American History Month

hat students learn today is only one small part of an organized effort to misrepresent and decontaminate U.S. history. African American History Month will be upon us in only a few short months, and as usual, the focus will be on the same African American heroes that are highlighted year after year. People ignorant of the real facts of history are missing as ignorant as one who never attained any formal education. This is of great significance because people’s view of the past not only informs their actions in the present. Although Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Crispus Attucks and Malcom X are among those who should be celebrated and revered, but there are thousands, actually millions that should be added and glorified. I want to add two of our most important scholars and teachers that are often passed over. They are Dr. John Hope Franklin and Dr. Ivan Van Sertima. Dr. Franklin and Dr. Van Sertima were essential in making it possible for so many to compete and achieve in this complex and somewhat racially polarized society. Dr. John Hope Franklin passed on March 25, 2009. He was best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947, and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In the early 1950s, Franklin served on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team led by Thurgood Marshall that helped develop the case for Brown V. Board of Education that led to the 1954 U. S. Supreme Court decision ending the legal segregation of black and white children in public schools. Dr. Franklin’s works are so numerous that I would have to devote an entire column just to list a few his publications. He should have been remembered and recognized by more than a few seconds in a newscast. Dr. Ivan Van Sertima and Dr. Franklin were heroes and highly influential individuals. Their approach to history was through pride and love for African Americans and all people. Dr. Van Sertima came to the United States in 1970, where he completed his post graduate studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He began his teaching career as an instructor at Rutgers in 1972, and later became Professor of African studies in the Department of Africana Studies.

the compiler of the Swahili Dictionary of Legal Terms, based on his field word in Tanzania, East Africa in 1967. As a literary critic, he was the author of Caribbean Writers, a collection of critical essays on the Caribbean novel. He was also the author of several major literary reviews published in Denmark, India, Britain, and the United States. He was recognized for his work in this field by being requested by the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1976 to 1980. The cornerstone of Dr. Van Sertima’s legacy will probably be his authorship of “They Came before Columbus: the African Presence in Ancient America.”

In 1979 Dr. Van Sertima founded the Journal of African Civilizations which quickly gained a reputation for excellence and uniqueness among historical and anthropological journals. Van Sertima wrote: “The destruction of African high-cultures after the massive and continuous invasions of Europe left many Africans surviving on the periphery or outer ring of what constituted the best in African civilizations”. Our ancestors define who we are, and we must remember the teachings of Dr. John Henrik Clarke who reminded us that: “Africa and its people are the most written about and the least understood of all of the world’s people. This condition started in the 15th and the 16th centuries with the beginning of the slave trade and the colonialism system. The Europeans not only colonialized most of the world, they began to colonialize information about the world and its people. In order to do this, they had to forget, or pretend to forget, all they had previously known about the Africans. They were not meeting them for the first time; there had been another meeting during Greek and Roman times. At that time they complemented each other”. We must not forget the lessons taught by Dr. Chancellor Williams, or Dr. Leonard Jeffries. We have to read, and encourage others to read. Everyone should be interested in this crucial and ongoing debate. We should read A.J. Roger’s “From Superman to Man.”, “100 Amazing Facts about the Negro”, and “The. World’s Great Men of Color”. ~Bernie Hayes

Van Sertima was a literary critic, a linguist, and an anthropologist, and made a name for him in all three fields. As a linguist, he was pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Now-Aug. 19: WORLD WAR I: MY FELLOW SOLDIERS EXHIBIT SLPL commemorates the centenary of America's official involvement in the First World War, with the exhibit, â&#x20AC;&#x153;World War I: My Fellow Soldiers," on display until August 19 at Central Library. A global conflict of unprecedented destruction and staggering loss of human life, the United States' participation led the Allies to victory and transformed our nation into an indisputable leader on the world stage.

Aug. 1-31: FERGUSON VOICES: DISRUPTING THE FRAME The Ferguson Voices: Disrupting the Frame exhibit will be on display throughout the month of August at Schlafly Library. The exhibit is open during normal Library hours. Please join us on August 3 for a panel discussion highlighting the Ferguson Voices Exhibit.

Aug 12: MYSTERY IN THE STACKS Solve the Mystery in the Stacks. Gather clues by interviewing suspects, using Library resources and exploring the Schlafly Library. Enjoy a mysterious scavenger hunt, testing both your brain and your powers of observation.

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Dear Friends of Gitana, Like you we have been very concerned about the loss of life and devastation coming from recent natural disasters in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico and California. These events when added to the tragedy in Las Vegas are enough to make us wonder what is going on in our country. In every case, it is important to focus on the incredible response of folks like us who rise to the occasion to do what needs to be done for our fellow men, women and children. Racism and economic disparity seem unimportant at these moments though we know full well that these ills persist. There is something that compels us in tragedy to think and act without being concerned with the "isms" of our divided society and to do the right thing.

In those moments of crisis, we seem to empathize with those around us and respond to what we see immediately in front of usthe need to help another human being. And so, it is that when a white female reporter connects a rescue team to assist an over the road truck driver who happens to be black we are touched when they embrace. When an

pg.

undocumented immigrant puts himself on the line to save citizens who are sitting on their roofs in order not to drown we empathize and see triumph in such selflessness. When a husband risks his life by using his body to protect his wife from bullets we are moved to tears knowing that at that moment he is not thinking of himself but protecting the one he loves from bullets. There is something to be learned and captured within our hearts when we see such empathy and triumph over tragedy. The lesson is that human beings are at their best in crisis and it is doesn't have to be a leap to learn to empathize and triumph when there is no tragedy imagine how different things would be. Seize this moment to think about the degree of your empathy with others especially those that are different than you. Resolve within yourself that we can triumph everyday if we put ourselves into the shoes of others and do the right thing! Peace and Love, Cecilia Nadal

"Ethics in Action Awards" Ceremony on October 1

On Sunday, October 1 Cecilia Nadal, Executive Director received the "Ethics in Action Award" from the Ethical Society of St. Louis. The program included tributes made by Vanetta Rogers (Gitana Board) and Mary Schanuel, President of the Synergy Group. Scenes from Gitana' s productions of Black and Blue and New World by Lee Patton Chiles and Between Worlds: An American Journey written by Cecilia Nadal were presented with memorable performances by Greg Matzker, Joel Beard and Natalie Walker. Prior to the start of the ceremony Gitana students involved with the Global Education Ethical Society Award photos by through the Arts program joined youth with the Erica M Brooks Ethical Society to hear actor Richard Cohen present the character of Michael Dalton. Dalton was a real St. Louisan who spent 20 years bringing African Americans and Whites Americans together through his church. The diverse group of kids got to know each other and share thoughts about engaging with people that are different. Cecilia invited and recognized leaders from the Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, African American and Caucasian communities for their contributions to Gitana's mission and work over many years.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Farmers Formal Friday, October 13th, 2017

6pm-10:30pm St. Louis Union Station Buy your tickets now for EarthDance's 10th annual 'farm-raiser' at Union Station! Meet St. Louis' top local chefs and their favorite farmers as you graze on their exquisite food, sip local libations, and bid on one of a kind auction items. All proceeds benefit EarthDance, the region's only organic farm school. Click here to purchase tickets and to view our list of chefs, farmers and libationers. Click here to help us spread the word!

pg.

BLACK COMIX RETURNS - African American Comic Art & Culture

A hardcover collection of art and essays showcasing the best African American artists in today's vibrant comic book culture.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Celebrate Enrollment While Eyeing the Future By Jonathan Clarke

ttending Howard University was a foregone conclusion for Rodney Edge, Jr. long before he arrived on the historically black university’s campus. With alumni aunt and uncle extolling the school’s virtues, Edge, now 20 years old and a junior majoring in electrical engineering, was instantly sold on Howard even before he entered high school. As a teenager growing up in Atlanta, awareness of race matters and social justice played barely any role in Edge’s college selection. Then, Florida vigilante George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin one night. That moment and the unrest that ensued added new relevance to Edge’s desire to attend a black university. “When the Trayvon Martin situation happened and then the Mike Brown situation happened, it was like Trayvon Martin for me was like one of the things that nudged me to wake up because it had me realize there’s still some racial tension – some relatively significant racial tensions going on,” Edge recalls.

graduates. If relevance were based solely on the recent uptick in new enrollees, the question would be asked and answered. A glance at freshman enrollment over the past couple years is enough to leave university administrators hopeful. According to the crowd-sourced Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Alcorn State University’s first-year class is its largest in school history. The Mississippi University reports a 38 percent increase over a year ago. In the same time period, first-year enrollment at Virginia State University has jumped 10 percent. Meanwhile, Voorhees College, Claflin University and Kentucky State University all are reporting gains as well. Previously, The Washington Post published an article showing freshman year gains of, “49 percent at Shaw University, 39 percent at South Carolina State, 32 percent at Tuskegee University … 22 percent at Dillard University, 22 percent at Central State University, 20 percent at Florida Memorial University, and 19 percent at Delaware State University.”

question to say, what’s important to me? And if those things are important, they’re looking to say, well, an HBCU offers that, and why don’t I just go to the place that has those things,” Kimbrough offers. With well-documented stories of racial incidents at predominantly white institutions and as talk of so-called safe-spaces emerges, students increasingly recognize HBCUs as the original safe space. “They do provide a nurturing environment, smaller class sizes, number three on my list would be the interactions that are provided students to have with faculty and staff,” says Johnnie B. Watson, President Emeritus at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis. Arkisha Edge expected that her son, Rodney, the Howard University junior, would experience a similar sense of community and shared values as those she recalls from her days attending North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She remembers that “A & T provided a sense of family or a sense of belonging, a sense of helping you to establish your identity and being sure of who you are, a feeling of self-worth and pride in your heritage – the things you have to offer to society – and not taking a back seat to anyone else. I felt like those were all qualities and attributes that would have furthered Rodney in his quest to [become] an engineer.”

Historically Black Colleges and Universities are experiencing renewed interest, and recent enrollment figures have surged at several well-known HBCUs. The spike coincides with increased racial tensions nationwide and growing social consciousness among college-age students. Meanwhile, serious concerns remain at enough historically black schools to curtail prematurely celebrating that news, which reverses a downward trend in HBCU enrollment. A vast number of these institutions faces viability questions amid on-going concerns over troubled finances, graduation rates and the alarming amount of turnover among college presidents.

Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Dillard University, a historically black college in New Orleans, explains the uptick in that same article. President Kimbrough says it’s the result of something he calls the Missouri Effect, stemming from the 2015 unrest at the University of Missouri. He identifies that as the tipping point for African American students at predominantly white institutions (PWI) to stand up for greater attention to their needs. In an NPR interview, Kimbrough shares how black students naturally would turn to historically black schools after feeling ignored or mistreated at PWIs.

That ability to connect with students and empower them in a personalized setting long has been and remains one of HBCU’s greatest selling points. Dr. Christina R. Kirk’s journey to becoming an attorney, judge and teacher began at historically black Fisk University in 1996.

Few would debate the persistent popularity of HBCU’s. With generations of alumni dispersed across the nation and elsewhere, historically black schools remain a preferred option among college-seeking high school seniors, transfer students and post-

“As you look at a lot of the demands, people are asking for more black faculty, more black staff, black living spaces, blackcentered curriculum. Well, HBCUs have provided these things for almost 200 years. And, so I think people are now asking a

“If you’re looking for a family environment, if you’re looking for a place that’s going to nurture you and that is going to allow you to grow and develop into who you will eventually become, then you definitely want to at least explore your HBCU options,” Dr.

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES... cont.

Kirk raves. The nurturing environment HBCUs promote may explain the results of a 2015 Gallup Poll that finds alumni of historically black schools more likely to thrive compared with blacks who graduated from other schools. The study reveals HBCU grads thriving at higher percentages than their counterparts who attended PWIs in the areas of finance, personal purpose, social and community endeavors as well as their overall physical well-being. At a rate of 55 to 29 percent, HBCU graduates report feeling their college experience better prepared them for life after graduation than black graduates of other institutions. Tenika Booth, of Fayetteville, Georgia, says her daughter, Jordyn Booth, has blossomed in her Spelman College experience. Booth, 37, credits the trademark, HBCU personalized approach for setting her senior on the pathway to success. “Somebody took her under their wing and she just flourished. And I think that’s the difference between going to an HBCU and a PWI: You’re kind of just a number. And over there, people know her – they know that’s Jordyn. And I don’t think you can get that anywhere else other than an HBCU,” Booth exclaims. But, even Watson, a college president, will tell you all the low teacher-to-pupil ratios in the world are worthless unless these institutions remain financially viable. When he became LeMoyne-Owen’s president in 2006, the school was on probation for financial instability. He’s credited with fixing LeMoyneOwen’s accreditation problem by marshaling the school’s alumni and connecting with the Memphis business community. He admits, though, historically black universities, with their relatively smaller endowments, routinely risk financial peril.

“Any decreasing of the grant money that historically black colleges are able to get from the federal government could simply mean their destruction more than anything else. That’s an area we must keep our eyes on,” Watson warns.

circumstance ultimately may force the issue and shape the new look of the modern HBCU.

In the meantime, Dr. Kirk continues to share the advantages of an HBCU education with mentees in the Prep University program, designed to introduce high school students These days nothing is certain about funding for to the nation’s HBCUs. HBCUs or money for students. Restructuring of PLUS Loans previously strained students’ “I take girls on HBCU tours,” says Kirk, ability to access funds. No immediately clear “because the HBCU experience for me was answers come with the changing of the guard such an impactful one, that I want to share in Washington. that experience with continuing generations. There was so much I learned about myself “Oftentimes when a Republican would come in that environment that I felt girls still need into office, it was believed that there would be to have that experience. I make sure they at separatist funds coming your way – meaning least get a chance to explore HBCUs as an that I don’t want you at my white schools, or option when they’re looking at options.” I’m going to give you money to stay at your own schools – two pennies on the dollar of course – but I’m going to give you a little bit of money, enough that you’ll salivate over it and stay where you are, or I’m going to give you guilt money,” says Dr. Sherice Janaye Nelson, an adjunct professor and lecturer who has degrees from three HBCUs. Whatever funding guarantees may have existed have ghosted with a new administration and many more question marks remain in. The question of relevance becomes an existential one then, one which may require a paradigm shift among the challenged HBCU community. One radically different and increasingly more likely scenario may involve paring down the actual number of HBCUs. Dr. Nelson suggests, “The solution to this is, to me, putting our effort into making the government fund us at particular levels and then consolidating some of the schools. It’s unreasonable to ask the government to fund a hundred schools. So the solution is: How do we consciously and structurally shut down some of these HBCUs and then have an intended purpose for their campuses?”

For that reason, Watson worries about the federal government’s commitment to funding Academicians are slow to part with tradition, HBCUs at a manageable rate. and such ideas as consolidation are bound to meet with some resistance. The reality of

pg.

-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2017 FILM SCREENINGBlack Cinema Club STL and Sonic Arts United presents: Making SkyBreak Documentary Screening, Q&A + Meet & Greet with Zo! St. Louis, MO - Saturday October 21st Doors: 6pm | Film Start Time: 7pm Come get an early look at the 'Making SkyBreak' documentary which takes you behind the scenes with Zo! and the crew of talented songwriters, producers, and vocalists who helped create this amazing album. Through the film, explore his hometown of Detroit to learn about Zo!’s humble beginnings, tour his home studio in Washington D.C., and travel to a host of cities from LA to Raleigh, NC. Get ready to take a journey through SkyBreak, one of the greatest contemporary soul albums of 2016. The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Zo!, moderated by the film's director, Donnie Seals. *Some language may not be suitable for children* Watch The Trailer https://youtu.be/tRmfu8MN4EA Film by Digital Café LLC *NOTE: This is not a performance*

-SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2017 - SONIC CAMPSonic Arts United presents: Sonic Camp featuring Zo!, Donnie Seals and Eric Seals Camp 1 with Zo! Time: 1 - 3p Despite the lowly climate of the current music industry, Independent Artist/Musician/Composer Zo! believes that creatively, the musical landscape is as level and wide open as it has ever been. This workshop examines why there is no better time to be an "unknown" artist than right now - and more importantly, how to go about doing so. From practical strategies and day-to-day habits, to the basic business knowledge and skills that every musician should possess while building a successful career. This class is filled with first-hand methods on how to navigate the evolving journey of an Independent Artist without the assistance of big money or having a “foot in the door”. Camp 2 with Donnie and Eric Seals Time: 3:45 - 5:45p Every business needs videos. They inspire us to take action. Whether you're building your brand or making the best first impressions possible, video can give you the tools you need to tell your story and grow your business. Digital Cafe is Chicago based digital media agency that prides itself on forward thinking when it comes to innovative ways to tell stories. They produce creatively crafted and compelling video content across any medium, including television, film, web, and documentaries. Making SkyBreak producers Donnie and Eric Seals will set up a fully interactive video set for people to get a hands-on look at the equipment, techniques, and procedures involved with a professional video shoot. They'll also discuss the variety of ways to fully utilize that content to develop your brand. Purchase tickets at: www.soniccampweekend.eventbrite.com

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Are you prepared? CERF+, Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (RAC) and St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountant for the Arts (VLAA) are promoting artist readiness with a workshop and a mini-grant opportunity:

FREE WORKSHOP

5 WAYS TO BE A MORE RESILIENT ARTIST Friday, October 20, 4:30-6:00 PM

Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis MO 63112 (free parking behind the Pageant or in the MetroLink lot) You’re invited to a one-hour workshop where you’ll learn five key strategies to better protect your career, safeguard your livelihood and prepare you for emergencies. Facilitated by Jenifer Simon, CERF+ Director of Programs and Outreach, and Sylvie Rosenthal, artist and CERF+ board member, the workshop will provide practical tips and tools for becoming more resilient, including a copy of The Studio Protector: The Artist’s Guide to Emergencies Wall Guide. Free but please register in advance. Join us and network with your peers, enjoy a cold beer and refreshments, and learn how to get your studio in order. Co-sponsored by All the Art, Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design and Critical Mass for the Visual Arts REGISTER

Need more information? St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts 314-863-6930 or send an email.

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

OCTOBER 2017 From Jamala Rogers, OBS Interim Executive Director With the jason stockley murder acquittal came inquiries from our friends and allies around the country expressing concern for OBS and its members. We deeply appreciate the love and we welcome the support in the many forms it has come. OBS has a long history of leadership in the vortex of police violence in our communities. State repression work is one of the cornerstones of our working since OBSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founding in 1980. However, some of our members involvement in this issue pre-dates the founding including the Stop Killa Cops campaign in 1972 by the Congress of African People. OBS helped to found the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression in 1983 after the murder of Marilyn Banks by cop Joseph Ferrario. In the last five years, we have seen the fruits of our labor materialize through our base-building efforts with our allies to organize and educate the working class. After 152 years and 30-year community struggle, local control of the police department was returned to citizens in 2012. The hard-fought battle for a civilian oversight board (COB) was realized in 2015. The Reenvisioning Public Safety Campaign which was launched in 2015 is changing the narrative from disinvestment in a failing arrest-incarceration model to re-investment in human needs. The first African American city prosecutor was elected in 2016; Kim Gardner ran on a platform for court reforms that emphasized racial justice and transparency. Because of the blatant resistance of the SLPD and the police departments in surrounding municipalities, this important work must get more strategic and sophisticated. I believe we can continue to win decisive victories for our people if we coordinate our efforts to expand and deepen our organizing work.

Support the important organizing work of OBS. Donate here

For updates and other news, please visit our website.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Baba Askia Toure' I am an innovative, epic poet, who created two major books, "From the Pyramids to the Projects" (Africa World Press, 1990), and "Dawnsong!," Third World Press, 2000). "Pyramids" won an American Book Award in 1989. And in 2003, "Dawn-song!" won the 2003 Stephen Henderson Poetry Award, presented by the African-American Literature & Culture Society, an assoc. of the American Literature Assoc. Since then, I've done other books, of which I'm truly thankful. However, what I desire to bring before the Facebook reading body, is the fact that I've innovated the Nile Valley epic, in the volume, "DawnSong!," which was critiqued by Dr. James E. Smethurst, and also a young, Black female Ph.d graduate candidate...otherwise there was complete "silence" from the Black Literature Community, about the first Nile Valley epics written in the English language!

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

ABSENT EVIDENCE

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “The Whitest White House” (The Atlantic, October 2017) is a substantial essay on the ascent of Donald J. Trump to the presidency and on the progress to date on tragic reshaping of the Office of the President. Coates’s tone is satiric, rich with all the audible and obvious tropes native to neo-liberal discourses. His prose, to borrow words from the poet Sterling D. Plumpp, is ornate with smoke. And it needs to be said the smoke is a bit stronger than the fire. It is an illustration of why the claim that many self-identified white American readers are charmed by Coates’s writing has merit: he speaks with authority to and for them, affirming the vacillating status of their deeply frustrated whiteness. Their tongues are as tied as their minds are knotted. They hear in his work the lamentations of Hamlet, the admonitions of James Baldwin and Martin Luther King, Jr. , the faint echoes of Richard Hofstadter’s and Albert Murray’s social intelligence even if they calculate in ignorance of William Shakespeare, the moral tradition of the jeremiad, or anything that has more heft than tweets and post-truth prattle. Coates provides the negative comfort that Richard Wright and Malcolm X chose not to donate to their non-black readers.

African American readers who exercise severe criticism of the brilliance of Coates in addressing race-marked tragedy, capitalism, and domestic terrorism in the United States of American and the nicely gendered brilliance of Michelle Alexander in dealing with how the white supremacy of the criminal justice system canonizes mass incarceration and systemic disparities ----those readers truly know brilliance alone does not render air-tight or judicial, crucial analysis. When the primal necessary and sufficient evidence of the indigenous goes missing, the analysis slips into the vicinity of the abject and flawed. Such is the case with “The Whitest White House.” The essay does inform us greatly about how the rule of madness governs the behaviors of President Trump’s ‘loyal-to-thedeath” white supremacist tribe. Had Stephen Paddock committed his massive Los Vegas act of racial treason in January 2017, it is probable that Coates might have written his essay as an exquisitely ironic masterpiece. Paddock was very much a native son and beneficiary of white supremacy, and one hopes that Coates and other African American writers will address that issue in a future. One hopes they will renounce the enslavement of the white/black binary and more thoroughly expose how the drift from democracy into fatal American fascism is the first draft of our obituary. ~Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

Coates plays it safe. However critical and sarcastic he might be about the historical grounding of bogus white supremacy, he will not cross the line and abandon the obvious seductiveness of the black/white binary. Coates is responsible enough in noting that “land theft and human plunder” are among the “founding sins,” but he dares not explore those sins from the judicious perspectives of indigenous peoples ---those who possessed the territories prior to colonial invention of the Western Hemisphere. The binary needs to be exploded by including discussion of what is virtually absent evidence in American memory. History and economic, political, and cultural analyses which pretend indigenous populations --however minority they are in number ----count for nothing are blatantly obscene. I do not condemn Coats for playing it safe. He has the responsibility to feed his family and pay his debts, and he belongs to a writers who are commodities of a special kind.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

ATTENTION ARTISTS St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountant for the Arts (VLAA) is pleased to share this invitation from the Regional Arts Commission:

The Regional Arts Commission (RAC) has launched EVOKE, a comprehensive cultural planning initiative for the St Louis region. As part of the initiative’s community engagement process, RAC seeks to hear from everyone – especially our artists – who provide inspiration and innovation every day to the people of this region. Throughout the month of October, RAC will conduct several Artists at Work Listening Sessions, a series of facilitated discussions led by RAC staff and the Cultural Planning Group (CPG), a nationally recognized consultancy in cultural planning. The information you share will help inform the development of the cultural plan and inspire new initiatives to serve our region. The sessions will be held at RAC, 6128 Delmar Blvd., and begin at 6:30 p.m. At the Listening Session, you will: • Network with other local artists; • Learn about the goals of the cultural plan; and • Discuss the critical work that you and other artists are doing in St. Louis. Who Should Attend Through EVOKE, RAC wants to hear from a wide range of professional artists working in various disciplines throughout St. Louis. You may participate in the listening session that best fits your self-identified discipline. Please feel free to invite fellow artists to attend. • • • • •

Tue., Oct.10 – “Behind the Scenes” RSVP Here Wed., Oct. 11 – Visual Artists RSVP Here Thur., Oct. 12 – Dancers RSVP Here Tue., Oct. 17 – Actors & Performing Artists RSVP Here Wed., Oct. 18 – Visual Artists RSVP Here

For more information, contact Tunde at RAC, 314-863-5811, ext. 1009. Take the survey If you haven’t already done so, click on this link and take the EVOKE community survey. It's one more way to support RAC's cultural planning effort.

pg.

Watch Interviews from HEC‑TV on YouTube

ON VIEW AT BRUNO DAVID GALLERY ‑ Clayton HEATHER BENNETT: Photos of Gifts CHRIS KAHLER: Permutate LESLIE LASKEY: Cloud Images‑Eclipse JILL DOWNEN: Window Women Photos of the Opening Night on the Gallery Blog HEC‑TV interviews of Heather Bennett, Chris Kahler and Leslie Laskey on their current exhibition Watch interviews on YouTube

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Business Edge

workshops for individual artists

Career Planning for Creatives

Monday, Oct. 16 (6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) This handson workshop will help you examine your career, both professionally and artistically. You’ll learn how to chart a “career path” by setting goals, developing specific strategies and putting your plan into action. Instructors: Keith Tyrone Williams, performer/director/choreographer; Carlie Trosclair, visual artist, and Sue Greenberg, VLAA executive director

Getting Your Project Together

Monday, Oct. 30 (6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) Whether you’ll be applying for a grant, launching a crowd funding campaign, pursuing a public art commission or simply doing something new, you’ll need to develop a plan that will win support for your project. Instructors: Brigid Flynn and Liz Deichmann, cofounders of Midwest Artist Project Services (MAPS), and David Hults, Activ8Career Coaching, who will demonstrate mind mapping, a nonlinear, visual brainstorming tool.

Your Art, Your Brand: An Artist’s Guide to Being Noticeable and Getting Noticed

Monday, Nov. 13 (6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) With a background that blurs the lines between the arts and business savvy, Timmermann Group’s Bronwyn Ritchie is uniquely qualified to lead this discussion on establishing, maintaining and promoting an artist’s brand. Artists of all disciplines will learn the importance of their personal brand messaging and will discover tools and resources that are vital to marketing a personal brand that accomplishes goals when there’s just no time.

Website Clinic

Monday, Nov. 20 (6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) A welldesigned, functional website is an essential promotional tool for both emerging and midcareer artists of every discipline. Benjamin GandhiShepard, Solvm, will provide an overview of best practices. Then you’ll have an opportunity to spend 15 minutes getting oneonone feedback about your site. Consultations will be scheduled in person that evening and may not be available if you do not register in advance. Workshops are held at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar. Free parking is available behind the Pageant or in the MetroLink lot. Tuition is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Can’t afford to pay? Please contact us to request a scholarship.

Artists, need artsrelated legal or accounting assistance? Apply here.

Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations feed our souls and put food on tables. Check out the local data.

pg.

What do I do? I help the college bound teens of busy parents write extraordinary college entrance essays. And, I provide perceptive leaders with trustworthy diversity & inclusion facilitation. My book, Chop: A Collection of Kwansabas for Fannie Lou Hamer, is available at www.femininepronoun.com

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

HAPPENINGS AT THE MUSEUM

New exhibit coming in November!

The Blues in Black & White: The Photography of Kirk West About the artist - Kirk West has spent 30 years of his life touring with the world famous Allman Brothers Band. Before that he spent 20 years of his life chasing that special moment in bars, venues, and concert halls all across the country. Here's a sample of what you'll see in his The Blues in Black & White gallery, opening on November 4th at the National Blues Museum (the show will run November 4, 2017 through February 4, 2018) Kirk West - Official website | Kirk West on Facebook

pg.

[ Bring your group tour! ]

[ Legends Show and Tribute ]

We enjoy having local, national and international visitors of every age group visit the National Blues Museum for a group tour. From K-12 to corporate outings to senior groups, everyone enjoys visiting the National Blues Museum. Morris High School music class, Morris, OK

General Admission and Reserved Table Seating tickets may be purchased in advance by calling (314) 925-0016 ext. 403 or in person the night of the show at the National Blues Museum Box Office. If you can't attend the show, watch it on our Live Stream feed or on our Facebook page. Parkway Northeast Middle School

*Howlin’ Fridays are sponsored in part by The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound. #howlinfridays #nationalbluesmuseum #racstl.org #wsie887thesound

[ “The Blues Highway” ]

If you're interested in bringing your group to visit the National Blues Museum, just drop us a line - our contact information is below.

Blues travelers the world over make the National Blues Museum a 'must-see' on their Blues Highway adventure! Here's what they said -

Have you heard the National Blues Museum’s radio program, "The Blues Highway"? You can listen live every Thursday from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. on WSIE 88.7 the Sound.

"Great place! Beautifully done!" "Love the interactive exhibits!" "A fantastic experience! Taught me a lot about Blues history!" "Too cool!! Stirred up great memories! Loved the interaction & great music!" Come see for yourself why Nat Geo, the Smithsonian, NY TIMES and others have named the National Blues Museum a 'Top Travel Destination'

If you miss our show, you can always enjoy any of the Blues Highway shows on the National Blues Museum website.

Hours of Operation 10 am - 5 pm, Tuesday - Saturday Noon - 5 pm, Sunday - *Monday *Closed on Mondays, November - March (314) 925-0016 nationalbluesmuseum.org

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Need a laptop to use while at your St. Louis Public Library? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in luck! SLPL now offers Chromebook laptops for inLibrary use to all patrons, age 10 years and older with a valid, unrestricted Library card. Ask a SLPL staff member for more information on in-Library use.

pg.

Ages 13-24

Free T-shirts

FREE Substance use, HIV/AIDS & HEPATITIS Prevention Program for minority males & females

Mentoring Opportunities

Community service Hours

Daily Giveaways

Social Marketing Experience

Register Online: www.projecty-chatnow.org Session dates *Participants must attend all sessions Held every Saturday September 23 - October 14 9 Am - 4 pm each day Additional information: (314) 516-8487 Or (314) 516-8481 Location: UMSL | MIMH, 4633 World Parkway Circle, St. Louis, Mo 63134 Hollaback St.Louis @Projectychatnow

@hollabackstl

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

“I Called Him

Morgan”

film review by Charlie Braxton on the documentary about Lee Morgan and Helen Morgan

remember the very first time I heard the legendary Jazz trumpeter, Lee Morgan’s music. It was the fall of 1984. I was young, fresh out of college, where I had served as a DJ at my alma mater’s radio station playing mostly jazz fusion and what is now commonly called smooth jazz along with some standard, straight ahead tunes by jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and the like. In addition to that, I spent a great deal of time hanging out with local jazz musicians talking about the music that I’d come to love with a burning passion. Back then I thought that I was pretty knowledgeable about jazz. That was until I took a job as an arts administrator at the Mississippi Institute for Technological and Economic Resources and met a man by the name of William “Skeet” Jenkins, who worked there as a Vista Volunteer. Skeet was one of those wise elder statesmen who had traveled around the country doing odd jobs, who seemed to know something

His favorite way to describe himself was, “I know a little something about everything, but not a lot about anything.” about everything.

This was true with the exception of music, which he knew a lot about considering he was a former saxophonist in various local bands when he was younger. He was also a die-hard jazz fan, who happened to love Lee Morgan, a fact I discovered when he asked who my top five jazz trumpeters were. After rattling off what I thought was an impressive list that included Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard and Donald Byrd, Skeet told me that my list was an “okay list for a novice” but it as far as he was concerned Louis Armstrong was at the top of his list of jazz trumpet players followed closely by Lee Morgan and then “maybe Miles.” When I told him that I had never hear Lee Morgan’s music before, Skeet just gave me one of those I-really-pity-you looks, shook his gray head and walked off. The next day he brought his copy of Lee Morgan’s seminal LP, the Sidewinder. I took it home, listened to it and thus begin my life-long fascination with Lee Morgan. I bought records like Tomcat, Infinity, The Gigolo, Cornbread, The Procrastinator, Search for the New Land and Live at the Lighthouse. The thing that made Lee Morgan stand out was his warm and supple tone that has a way of floating through your ear and enveloping your soul with happiness. It didn’t matter whether he was blowing a tender ballad such as “You Go to My Head” or a fiery hard bop technical piece showing off his virtuoso skills “Croquet Ballet” or a swinging up-tempo tune like “The Sidewinder”, you could always count on him to play with a power and emotion that was/ is second to none among Jazz trumpet players, including the late Miles Davis, who was unquestionably much more popular than pg.

Morgan. But I believe, given time, Lee Morgan’s musical largesse would’ve matched if not outright surpassed that of Miles Davis. Unfortunately, time was a luxury that Lee Morgan didn’t have. On blistering cold night in February, Morgan died of a gunshot administered by his common law wife, Helen. According to legend, Helen shot Lee just before he was about to mount the stage and perform at a club called Slugs. I had often wondered exactly what happened on that fateful day. What was it that pushed a woman who loved him enough to commit her life to him to kill him in cold blood? I had read many accounts about the killing. Some said that she shot him in the heat of a lover’s quarrel; others indicated that it was a dispute about money and some went so far as to suggest that Helen killed her husband, a former heroin addict, over drugs. As riveting as some of these stories are, none offered me a truly definitive answer to the burning question, why did she do it? I thought I’d never know the answer to this question until I saw Kasper Collins’ documentary film, I Called Him Morgan. Although I Called Him Morgan does an excellent job recounting the life of Lee Morgan and extolling the virtues of his extraordinary musical prowess and does much to place Morgan’s legacy in its proper context, it is a mistake to view this as a film solely about Lee Morgan, because it’s not. I Called Him Morgan is just

as much about Helen Morgan, the woman who loved and nurtured him through a debilitating drug addiction and revitalized his career by serving as his manager, as it is about Lee Morgan’s life and music. Through the use of audio interviews with both Lee and Helen, video footage of interviews from family and friends of the couple as well as musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Paul West, Charli Persip, Albert Heath, Larry Ridley and others who knew and worked with Morgan, Collins is able to tell the story of Lee and Helen in its totality. While all of the interviews are insightful, it is the audio interview with Helen Morgan as she talks in great details about her complex relationship with her husband, how it began and how it ended that is the most revealing. In addition to explaining exactly what happened on that fateful night, you also hear the utter pain and remorse in her voice as she talks about what happened. Like bassist Larry Ridley, many jazz fans (including me) were angry at Helen for taking away such a promising talent away from us, but after watching this film you come to understand Helen’s pain and through that understanding you learn to forgive her. Needless to say, if you’re a Jazz fan, this film is a must see.

Photo: IFC Center

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

The St. Louis Public Library Foundation will host its literarythemed fundraiser, Stranger Than Fiction: When Words Collide, celebrating the golden era of science fiction. The intergalactic celebration at Central Library will offer stellar fare by Butler’s Pantry, signature cocktails by Intoxicology, music by DJ Crucial and a variety of cosmic activities. As a St. Louis Public Library patron, we’re offering you an exclusive chance to win tickets to this intergalactic gala! Click HERE to enter for your chance to win 2 tickets to Stranger Than Fiction: When Words Collide. For more information and to purchase event tickets, please visit www.slpl.org/raffle. Proceeds from the event support literacy and afterschool programs at St. Louis Public Library

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

PRESENTED BY A Call to Conscience

Friday

FUNDED BY

The

T. D. McNeal

STORY

From Servitude to Civil Rights Gregory S. Carr DIRECTED BY Fannie Belle Lebby WRITTEN BY

A Call to Conscience will present The T. D. McNeal Story: From Servitude to Civil Rights, a

OCT 20 and Saturday

OCT 21 Resource fair: 6pm Performance: 7pm Lee Auditorium

FREE Gwen Moore Moderator and curator of the #1 in Civil Rights exhibition

Percy Green

Vernon Mitchell, Ph.D.

Joan Suarez

Jamala Rogers

Christi Griffin, J.D.

Ron Gregory, Ph.D.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND PROGRAM SPONSOR William T. Kemper Foundation—Commerce Bank, Trustee

SPONSORED BY

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY Maxine Clark and Bob Fox

JSM Charitable Trust

pg.

TEN

The Empowerment Network for Men facing Prostate Cancer From: iHEART COMMUNITIES w/ JADE HARRELL

Prostate cancer is not only an invader of the human body it is an infiltrator of the human spirit. Survivor, Mellve Shahid made a promise to God to support and serve other men battling prostate cancer when he was diagnosed ten years ago. He founded The Empowerment Network and has been changing lives and creating hope for hundreds of men ever since. Click here for the podcast.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

An artist's duty, as far as I am concerned, is to reflect the times. (Nina Simone)

pg.

I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself. How can you be an artist and not reflect the times? (Nina Simone)

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Featured

Artist

Submission

pg.

Kevin

Cole Bio:

Kevin Cole received his B.S. from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, an M.A. in art education from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and an M.F.A. from Northern Illinois University. Within the last 30 years, he has received 27 grants and fellowships, 65 awards in art, 57 teaching awards and over 30 public art commissions His artwork has been featured in more than 470 exhibitions throughout the United States within the last 25 years. Coleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artwork is included in more than 2500 public, private and corporate collections throughout the United States. Public collections include the National Museum of of History & Culture the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC: High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.; William Jefferson Clinton Library, Little Rock, Ark.; Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Ark.; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.; The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, La.; The David C Driskell Center University of Maryland at College Park; Dayton Institute of Art, Dayton, Ohio; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia, Pa.; The Georgia Museum of Contemporary Art, Atlanta, Ga.; Corcoran Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Tampa Museum in Tampa, Fla. Corporate collections include Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C.; IBM, M.Y. and King and Spaulding Law Firm, Atlanta, Ga. Private collectors include Michael Jordan, formerly of the Chicago Bulls; Dallas Austin, Film & Records Producer; Monica Pearson former Anchor WSB TV, Atlanta, GA: Brad Sellers, formerly of the Chicago Bulls and Darrell Walker, former head coach of the Toronto Raptors. Cole has also created more than 35 public art works, including the Coca-Cola Centennial Olympic Mural for the 1996 Olympic Games. His artwork has been featured in more than 106 publications, recently in Scholastic Art with Dale Chihuly as well as The Washington Post, Sculpture Magazine, The Union Tribune in San Diego, Calif., and The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta, Ga. Cole and his artwork has also appeared on the NBA Inside Stuff. Cole is represented by Hearn Fine Arts in Little Rock, Ark.; Marta Hewett Gallery in Cincinnati, OH; Golden Fine Arts in Denver, CO and September Gray Fine Arts, in Atlanta, Ga., and Chicago, Ill. Cole is also an Art Consultant for Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta, Ga. GA Mr. Cole recently had a piece included in the permanent collect National African American Museum of History and Culture at Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

Artistkcole.com.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

100

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

102

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

104

CALL FOR ART “All Colors” OVERVIEW: “All Colors” is an invitational and juried arts exhibit featuring the art of approximately 100 artists and 200 pieces of art. The show takes place January 13 through February 28, 2018 at the St. Louis Artist Guild, 12 Jackson Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105. We expect strong attendance, as the “All Colors” exhibit is a fund raiser with art and related funds to benefit artist of all disciplines, small not for profit 501C3 organizations and community/neighborhood organizations. Clayton, and the surrounding region have long been supporters of the arts and Portfolio Gallery and the “All Colors” sponsors are committed to make this exhibit a successful fund raiser and to introduce the St. Louis Metropolitan region to artist that mainstream publications have overlooked. HOW TO APPLY: Online applications may be completed though Portfolio’s website at www.portfoliogallerystl.org Click the Call for Art link that will take you to the sign-up, upload and payment. Each application must include the requested uploaded images and an artist’s statement of 100 words or less explaining the artist’s creative process including specific information about technique and materials.

Submit your art now!

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

106

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

108

PREMIUM BLACK CAR SERVICE

RIDE IN STYLE WITH OUR EXPERIENCED, WELL TRAINED AND PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS.

BLACK CAR SERVICE

THE ULTIMATE IN LUXURY AND STYLE

Services Include:

AIRPORT TRANSFERS CORPORATE TRANSPORTATION NON-AIRPORT TRANSFERS PARTIES SPECIAL EVENTS/WEDDINGS/GRADUATIONS FLAT RATES AND HOURLY RATES AVAILABLE

SEDANS & SUV’S AVAILABLE CALL 314.565.8907 FOR YOUR FREE QUOTE.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Featured

Photography Submission

pg.

110

Harris

Visual Access Photography 703-898-0822

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Version 1 -Wrap your head around these three sisters expressing themselves through vibrant colors and cultural vibes! When these beauties expressed interest in modeling, their Mom saw a fun way to boost their confidence. The photo shoot was inspired by the idea that head wraps are more than just a protective style, but symbols and adornment for centuries in the African and African American communities. The trio fully embraced the opportunity to celebrate their identities and collective pride during a time when they feel like society is trying to force them to forget their history. Each girl selected their favorite color head wrap and came up with a unique way to articulate how they feel through tribal paint. They stood taller in each frame as they tapped into the unique strength of their ancestors inside of them, and the posing came organically through their unique bond as sisters. Days after the shoot their Mom shared that the girls wore their head wraps proudly as if they were crowns.

YESSSSSS Young Queens!

Version 2 Sister Trio Fun This sister trio look stunning in their regal head wraps as they decided to give this concept an African twist with warm colors and tribal paint expressive of their personalities. Every image is just as striking as they are and we can’t wait to see what these girls do next! Photographer: Bo Harris Momager: Ayanna Harris

pg.

112

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

114

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

116

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

118

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

#BlackDollsMatter

Buy Now!!!

Bring a sense of pride and strength to the extraordinary girl in your life. Madeline Delilah Doll and chapter book www.stagemotherproductions.com pg.

120

BLACK Archaeologist

We ask the question in this episode , “if superior black beings from another world landed here on Earth, and learned the true history of black people in America, how might they react.” Watch our other episodes on YouTube, TechNubian1, and don't forget to donate $5.00 to our upcoming fourth season, our Gofundme link on Facebook, I Love Black Archaeologist.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

122

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

QUINCY TROUPE Headlines...

Brick City Poetry Festival

10/19 - 10/22

2017

Click Here to Read More pg.

124

John Jennings Associate Professor Visual Studies SUNY Buffalo tumblr: http://jijennin70. tumblr.com/

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

126

ART OF FOOD

being

VEGAN ME, is for

YOU, YO MAMA, & YO COUSIN TOO

here’s a new frontier of consumerism amongst us, and its being driven by living a plant based lifestyle. In this year alone, a lot of gems have been given to the masses regarding our state of health and how we can take that information to create the necessary change we

Daily there’s mounting evidence exposing the truths of the animal agricultural industry and it’s impact on health, environment & climate change, and cruelty to animals. According to The Vegetarian Resource need in our lives.

Group, a poll was conducted in 2016 that 37% ( 8 million adults) of the US Population are now identifying as vegetarian. Between the time span of 2005-2015 the beef industry saw 19% decline in consumption of red meat along with fish, poultry, pork, and dairy milk. Now why are we, yes “we”, are we moving in the direction of eating less meat? Well let me go ahead and break that down for you. My name is Artinces “Fabulously Vegan” and I dedicate my life to not only being vegan but spreading the love, awareness, and the fabulousness of this here vegan lifestyle.

lifestyle, it is a universal understanding that is a choice of compassion and relief of oppression from all beings of life. Yes, every day vegans choose to fight oppression in our diets and habits. It is not only rewarding for our own well being, but for the world around us. It is truly a remarkable way to be the change we want to see in the world. Life is precious and it is time that we treat it as such! Get Your Life Honey!!! Well literally, as I’ve said above life is truly precious.

In the last ten years the consumption of meat and the animal agriculture industry has become a known leading cause to preventable diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes the industrial animal agriculture to diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and most recently obesity. Unfortunately, with the growing expansion of meat factories the number of these preventable diseases ISN’T SLOWING DOWN. 1 out of 3 adults worldwide suffer from hypertension,

What is a Vegan? A vegan is a person that does not consume nor wear anything from an animal. No fish, no butter, no dairy, no cheese, (usually people freak out when I say no cheese) is to be eaten nor does one wear leather, fur, and suede. A vegan person does not support animal cruelty in any facet, including animal testing. I know reading this you’re wondering why anyone would choose to lead a vegan lifestyle. There are many benefits to eating a plant based diet and abstaining from wearing such clothing. When someone adopts the vegan

in America 26% adults are obese, and 1 out of 10

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

BEING VEGAN IS... cont.

adults are diabetic. Children as young as 8 years of age eating the Standard American Diet better known as the S.A.D (that acronym alone should terrify you) diet are now subjected to showing early signs of heart disease. Now consider this, what if I told you by eating a beef burger you are not only forcing your body to ingest harmful chemicals that was most likely pumped into the cattle before consumption, but also beef is directly linked to CANCER! “I

think we have enough information to say we know a steady diet of red meat is not in your best interest.” Mary Ann Bauman MD, and a spokesperson for the

According to data, over the last 50 years human activity is the cause of increasd ocarbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions being trapped in the atmosphere. What does that have to do with me one might wonder? Well if you think the hurricanes experienced in Texas, the floodings in India & Sierre Leone, or the tsnamis in Japan, Greenland, and Thailand are somethingwell we ain’t seen nothing yet!

Animal Agriculture is responsible for at least 18% of carbon dioxide being released and livestock along with its byproduct and is responsible for over

American Heart Association. This known fact isn’t only causing consumers to leave the cattle alone in the pasture, big fast food chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are considering the option for a veggie burger. The lesson in this is THE FORK HAS SPOKEN! We are waking up and becoming aware of the dangers of meat consumption and how we can prevent many of the diseases affecting our communities and our loved ones. We are the World!

I know you’ve heard of that song from years ago. Well I’m assuming you have, but just in case you’re not tuned in of this powerful message I’ll share the lyrics with you. “We are the world, We are the children, We are the ones who make a brighter day So, let’s start giving, There’s a choice we’re making, We’re saving our own lives, It’s true we’ll make a better day, Just you and me.” This ladies and gents was written by the legendary musical geniuses, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. I know what you’re thinking, that’s mad corny! But hey hear me out, or rather read me at least. We live on planet needing fresh air to breathe, water to drink, and soil to grow the plants we rely on. We are the reflection of the environment we live in. Our choices DO MATTER.

pg.

50% of greenhouse gases worldwide! What does all of this mean, it means the Earth is overheating and Mother Earth will act accordingly. There will a number of deaths increasingly due to climate change, and our lives as we know it will be in the hands of the unpredictable. We are becoming more susceptible to the dangers of global warming every moment of our lives while being ignorant to the lives of others. There’s No Love in Cruelty As I’ve mentioned before, being vegan is a life of compassion and being an advocate of fighting oppression for animals. Veganism overstands, my made up vernacular to express an immense sentiment of empathy, that sentient beings are subjected to harsh treatment and unnecessary killing for our entertainment, liking, and our blissful ignorance. We consider the lives of the voiceless and choose to be activists to sustain the

128

rights of animals who in the end have feelings just like us. For example, dairy consumption is one of the most cruel practices in the animal agriculture industry, it is unethical to cows. Cows just like us create milk in their bodies to feed their young. However, for cows to produce milk they are subjected to artificial insemination. Once female cows have given birth, their young is taken away within one day, while the mother is in distress she is searching and yearning for her new born. The mother will then repeat this process in confinement and harsh conditions. She is tied and restrained from movement while repeatedly being impregnated against her will. What is unknown to the masses is the heart-breaking process in which milk arrives at your neighborhood grocery store. There’s no

love cruelty and being vegan creates the awareness so we can choose to eat and live differently. It is a lifestyle that isn’t only harmonious and abundant in health but also advantageous for all lives in existence. It is essentially a lifestyle made for me, you, yo mama, and yo cousin too! How can you can you become vegan? Take it slow! Start eating at least one plant based meal per day and become friends with vegans! I’m friendly and love meeting new people! Google search some awesome vegan blogs and recipes. My blog, “Fabulously Vegan” has recipes and discusses the practical ways to adopt a vegan lifestyle. As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” but someday every little brick placed created a masterpiece. Get started today! Go Vegan <3

Fabulously Vegan

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

R A T S L AL M O TO R S , I N C .

2012 Ford Focus SE 24,xxx

2006 Dodge Dakota SLT 70,xxx

4 dr Sedan

4 dr

for more info visit us online

2014 Chevrolet Impala 25,xxx miles 4 dr

for more info visit us online

100 VEHICLES FOR SALE

OVER KEVIN TAYLOR (314) 427-6550 office (314) 540-8618 cell (314) 423-9133 fax sales@allstarmotorsinc.com kevin.taylor.sales@gmail.com

WE SELL VEHICLES FOR CASH. PRICES ARE NEGOTIABLE. 9201 ST. CHARLES ROCK RD. \ ST. LOUIS, MO. 63114

MAKE ME AN OFFER. www.Allstarmotorsinc.com pg.

130

Rickkita Edwards teaches Core:Cardio & More @ North Co.Rec Center

every Mon-Wed- Fri.

5:30 PM-6:30 PM

She also teaches "WaistNWeights" every Mon

@ Faith Miracle Temple

7:15 PM-8 PM

Contact me today for personal training sessions!

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

“Acting White”

Share your Story Dear friends: I have been asked to write a chapter in a book that will address colorism in education. My chapter will focus on “acting white.” Specifically, when I was growing up, I was a “smart” student. My top performance in school, doing homework, raising my hand to answer questions, etc. often drew the accusation from my African American classmates and friends that I was “acting white.” Now, I know there are psychologists out there who say this is not true and does not exist. But alas, it was absolutely true for me. I have written about this in past works. I will do so again for this new book. I do know that many young folks today who continue to have such allegations hurled at them so feel free to share this email with whoever and have folks email me directly. I did a survey on this very question about 7 years ago and the results were consistent with my experiences decades ago. I’d like to update my earlier survey. I would love to hear from anyone out there who has a similar/related story either involving yourself or someone you know. I would like to include your story in the chapter. I will conceal your identity if you request. Do you have a story to share? If so, please email to me at: norwood@wulaw.wustl.edu. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead Kimberly Norwood , Professor of Law | Washington University School of Law pg.

132

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

134

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:34-40 NIV

We seek to impact the world with the love of Christ one life at a time! Hopelessness and desperation are on the rise in a world where the greatest segment of the population possesses the least amount of resources. We need your help! Please help us fight this epidemic by sending your tax deductible donations/contributions to: For His Glory Ministries of St. Louis P.O. Box 1942 Maryland Heights, MO. 63043 http://calvarychapelslc.com/homeless-ministry/ For other ways in which you can help please contact Pamela Ford at pamelaford98@gmail.com or 314-216-0744. Copyright © 2017 - All rights reserved.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

ART OF HEALING

Your Ad or Article could be here!

pg.

136

RICKKITA EDWARDS

CARDIO-CORE & MORE AT NORTH COUNTY REC. CENTER

TIMES: MON WEDS FRI 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

She teaches a class 2 Mondays a month at Faith Miracle Temple 7:15 pm - 8:00 pm. (ALL CLASSES ARE FREE)

COMING SOON! WAIST-NOT FITNESS PERSONAL TRAINING #GETWAISTEDBYRICKKITA

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

LABOR DAY SPECIAL!! ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS FOR WEEKLY MEAL PREP, CONTACT INFO BELOW!

Meal prep plans, personal chef, and health coaching services available. Plans starting as low as $75.00- For limited time only!! For more information contact fabulouslyveganme@gmail.com and visit fabulouslyvegan.com!

pg.

138

Book of Poetry by

Lenard D. Moore

th on 30 iti d Ed ite ry Lim ersa niv

http://www.mountainsandriverspress.org/Home.aspx

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

"Quiet Time" by: Lonnie Powell

"Cuban Dancer" by: Ed Johnetta Miller pg.

140

June 26, 2017 PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release Contact: Robert A. Powell 314-265-0432 Portfoliogallery@att.net,

Portfolio Gallery today issues its call for art, and invites visual artist of all disciplines to enter at:www.portfoliogallerystl.org The “All Colors” Fine Art Show will feature 100 artist and 200 pieces of art, both local and nationally known artists, collectors and educators to the St. Louis Region.

The “All Colors” exhibition will feature the art of invited artist Dean Mitchell, Charles Bibbs, Manuelita Brown, Ed Johnetta Miller, Lonnie Powell, Robert Hale, Sandra Smith, Cbabi Bayoc, Thomas Sleet, Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, Ronald Johnson and others. Our goal is to create an exciting art event that attracts a national audience. Sells income will support general operations of Portfolio, Inc. a not-for-profit 501C3 arts organization and further be used to provide grants to St. Louis artists, small notfor-profits and community based organizations. Please join the award winning Portfolio Gallery as it presents its 1st Annual “All Colors” Visual Arts Invitational & Juried Exhibition to be held January 13th through February 28, 2018, at the St. Louis Artist Guild, 12 Jackson Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105.

Portfolio Gallery is a member of The Alliance of Black Galleries

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

142

Friday, November 24, 2017 6:00 pm The DARK ROOM @ The Grandel STLMO

The BROTHERHOOD Testimony of Music Life, Living, & Celebration of Artistic Excellence

EPISODE 1

oin us for an evening prelude to what surely promises to be an artistic experience and wonderfilled musical and creative excursion. The Brotherhood is and will be a LIVE hosted Interview with a directed and community based Q & A session with the incomparable Ptah Williams, Darrell Mixon, & Gary Sykes. These musicians who have place in and along the Saint Louis metropolitan area and the world have over 150 years of musical performance between them. Saint Louis born and Saint Louis forged, they have, held and share a bond and brotherhood that has lasted and endured the ages. Ptah, Gary, and Darrell, have the distinct recognition of having played together and performed together now for well over 35 years. Come listen, and hear them tell their stories in their own words and answer questions about their craft, artistry, life, inspiration(s), influences, and love of music. ‘Its’ like sitting at the feet of the masters dining at their table and listening to them unravel the mysteries of the ages.”

NO COVER - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

– EARLY RESERVATIONS ARE STRONGLY AND HIGHLY SUGGESTED This one of a kind in-depth opportunity will take place in the intimate space of the Dark Room wine bar restaurant and gallery in the Grandel. 3610 Grandel Square in Grand Center . 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm preceding the main stage performance of MUSIC OF THE SOUL A Night of Music, Poetry, Song & Dance “A Celebration of Life, Living, and Artistic Excellence”. – https:// www.metrotix.com/events/detail/music-of-the-soul This event is sponsored by, supported by, and brought to you by David A. N. Jackson Founder/ Artistic Director The HOTBOX Virtualclub.STL L.L.C., with support and Thanks to The DARK ROOM WINE BAR & GALLERY, and The KRANZBERG ARTS FOUNDATION.ORG ** This event will be recorded live and will be available in Live Stream format broadcast on the web.**

Friday

November 24, 2017 8:00 pm The Grandel Theatre The Grandel STLMO MUSIC OF THE SOUL A Night of Music, Poetry, Song & Dance “A Celebration of Life, Living & Artistic Excellence” Imagine a time and an evening of reunion, retreat, relaxation, and revelry all wrapped and woven together as one, presented by some of the best that this region has to offer. David A. N. Jackson’s production of MUSIC OF THE SOUL is a soul gathering and a who’s who of artists that all have something to profoundly share via their chosen art, talent & craft; sharing a lived experience via the vehicle of music, poetry, movement, spoken word, song, and improvisation. David A. N. Jackson – percussion+, sound-scaping, poetry, spoken word; Ptah Williams – piano, keyboard; Darrell Mixon – upright bass, electric bass; Gary Sykes – drums, percussion Eric Slaughter – acoustic guitar, electric guitar; Kim FullerBarnes – vocals; Anthony Jones – kinesthetic art motion/dance; Martin Luther Turner – spoken word $20.00 General Admission $25.00 General Admission Day of show $40.00 Special Advance Reserve __________________________________________________ Tickets Available via: https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/music-of-the-soul and at these locations: AfroWorld Hair Care and Fashion 7276 Natural Bridge Road, STL, MO 63121 Progressive Emporium Information Center 1108 N Sarah Street, STL, MO 63108 The Grandel Theatre 3610 Grandel Square, STL, MO 63103

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

144

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

146

Sycorax's Daughters

~ Edited by Kinitra Brooks, PhD, Linda D. Addison, Susana Morris, PhD. Forward by: Walidah Imarisha

A powerful, revealing anthology of dark fiction and poetry by Black women writers. The tales of what scares, threatens and shocks them will enlighten and entertain you. Sycorax’s Daughters’ stories and poems delve into demons and shape shifters from Carole McDonnell’s “How to Speak to the Bogeyman” and Sheree Renée Thomas’ “Tree of the Forest Seven Bells Turns the World Round Midnight” to far future offerings from Kiini Ibura Salaam’s “The Malady of Need”, Valjeanne Jeffers’ steampunk female detective in “Mona Livelong: Paranormal Detective II” and others. These thought-provoking twenty-eight stories and fourteen poems cover creatures imagined— vampires, ghosts, and mermaids, as well as the unexpected price paid by women struggling for freedom and validation in the past—slavery to science-fiction futures with transhumans and alternate realities. Leave the lights on and join these amazing authors as they share their unique vision of fear. Tiffany Austin - Tracey Baptiste - Regina N. Bradley - Patricia E. Canterbury - Crystal Connor - Joy M. Copeland - Amber Doe - Tish Jackson - Valjeanne Jeffers - Tenea D. Johnson - R. J. Joseph - A. D. Koboah Nicole Givens Kurtz - Kai Leakes - A. J. Locke - Carole McDonnell - Dana T. McKnight - LH Moore - L. Penelope - Zin E. Rocklyn - Eden Royce - Kiini Ibura Salaam - Andrea Vocab Sanderson - Nicole D. Sconiers - Cherene Sherrard - RaShell R. Smith-Spears - Sheree Renée Thomas - Lori Titus - Tanesha Nicole Tyler - Deborah Elizabeth Whaley - L. Marie Wood - K. Ceres Wright - Deana Zhollis

Review:

“

Sycorax's Daughters introduces us to a whole new legion of gothic writers. Their stories drip with history and blood leaving us with searing images and a chill emanating from shadows gathered in the corner. This anthology is historic in its recognition of women of color writers in a genre that usually doesn't know what to do with us.

”

- Jewelle Gomez, author The Gilda Stories

About the Editors: Kinitra D. Brooks, Ph.D. is an associate professor of English at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research interests include contemporary African American and Afro-Caribbean, black feminism, and horror studies. Linda D. Addison grew up in Philadelphia and received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Carnegie-Mellon University. She is the award-winning author of four collections including How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend. She is the first African-American recipient of the HWA Bram Stoker Award® and has published over 300 poems, stories and articles. SUSANA M. MORRIS, PhD. is an associate professor of African American literature at Auburn University and co-founder of the popular feminist blog, The Crunk Feminist Collective. Sycorax's Daughters is available for Preorder on Amazon until March 10. Follow this link. http://amzn.to/2lsxgz3 ~~ Rochon Perry Publisher, Cedar Grove Publishing website: www.cedargrovebooks.com twitter.com/cedargrovebooks facebook.com/cedargrovepublishing

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

148

Please Join us for our 59th Season opening concert on Saturday, October 7th!

Steve Swell Quintet Saturday, October 7, 2017

The Stage at KDHX 3524 Washington Ave., 63103 FB event page here 7pm doors / 8pm concert $20.00 regular admission / $10.00 Students & Struggling Music Supporters Advanced tickets available HERE additional info: NEWMUSICCIRCLE.ORG Steve Swell – trombone & compositions William Parker – upright bass Chad Taylor – drums Jemeel Moondoc – saxophones Dave Burrell – piano Veteran free-jazz trombonist and composer Steve Swell makes his St. Louis debut, performing with master bassist William Parker, drummer Chad Taylor, saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, and pianist Dave Burrell. Long associated with New York’s downtown avantgarde scene, Swell began his career in 1975, and since then he has built one of the most expansive and wide-ranging careers in jazz, touring and recording with artists such as Tim Berne and Ken Vandermark. His work as a collaborator and sideman is extensive, and significant partnerships include Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, and John Zorn. Dave Burrell is known for his solo-piano works as well as his collaborations with Archie Shepp and Pharaoh Sanders,. William Parker is an iconic musician who the Village Voice has called, “The most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time”. In 2013, he received the Doris Duke Performing Arts Award in recognition of his musical impact over the past 40 years. Jemeel Moondoc was a featured soloist for Cecil Taylor. Chad Taylor is a regular collaborator of Marc Ribot and Pharaoh Sanders, and continues his decade-plus role as percussionist in Chicago Underground Duo. Presented in partnership with KDHX Special support for this event provided by:

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

150

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

Celebrate our 40th anniversary with a gift to

The Black Rep. Your Impact can be felt onstage

pg.

152

Entertaining Diverse Audiences

In the classroom

Educating Promising Youth In our community

Enriching Our Community Your gift will help us advance our mission of providing platforms for theatre, dance and other creative expressions from an African American perspective that heighten the social and cultural awareness of its audiences.

We could not do what we do without you. Thank you for a wonderful 40th anniversary season MAKE YOUR GIFT BY FRIDAY, JUNE 30TH

DONATE

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

OPPORTUNITIES

pg.

154

CLICK HERE TO VIEW AD

The Bernie Hayes Show Talk and interviews about affairs of the day with a St. Louis slant. The Bernie Hayes Show can be seen: Friday’s at 9 A.M. Saturday’s at 10:00 P.M. Sunday’s at 5:30 P.M.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

156

CAREERS

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 4.8 October 29, 2017

pg.

158

A big Thank You to our CONTRIBUTERS