The Arts Today Ezine vol 5.12 by Arts Today Ezine

Frith

FRED

SOLO GUITAR pg #52 PERFORMANCE

BETTY ACQUAH

FEATURED pg #72 ARTIST

Vol 5.12

December 31, 2019

FEATURED PROFESSION: JUDGE JUDY DRAPER

MOCK TRIALS @ HSSC pg #58

View this and past issues from our website.

IN SOUTH AFRICA...

IT'S A WONDERFUL...

HEALTHCARE...

pg. #10

pg. #22

pg.#46

KATE GILL

METRO THEATER

BERNIE HAYES

Autoarchaeology at Christiansborg Castle (Ghana): Decolonizing Knowledge, Thought and Praxis THU 12.5.19 | Seigle Hall, room 111 | 4:30PM

Engmann teaches courses on historical and contemporary forms of the African experience, such as African Islam, critical heritage, material culture, museums, Islamic archaeology, slave trade, slavery, and colonial photography. Her second project, Slavers in the Family: The Archaeology of the Slaver in Eighteenth Century Gold Coast, is a study of Christiansborg Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, former seventeenth century European trading post, Danish and British colonial seat of government administration, and Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana. She is the first scholar granted access to the site. It is the first excavation of the Castle. This community archaeology, ethnography, documentary film, and museum project is grounded in its commitment to the political impacts of research on direct descendants and the public. As a Ghanaian descendant of Carl Gustav Engmann (1752-1757), a Danish Governor at Christiansborg Castle and Board Director of the Danish Slave Trade Organization (1766-1769), she has coined the term "autoarchaeology." This project contributes to the Ghana Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aims to convert the site into a museum . Sponsored by the Department of African & African-American Studies

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Saturday, December 7 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Arcade Contemporary Art Projects Webster University Gateway Campus 812 Olive Street, St. Louis 63101

Tickets

-orMail Your Check to Bread and Roses Missouri 725 Clifton Avenue / St. Louis, MO 63139 $45 per person / $75 VIP per person includes parking

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

IN THIS

ISSUE:

...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 5.12 St. Louis, MO www.artstodaye.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.

pg.

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.

6 IN THE NEWS INT. TRADE

8 OTHER NEWS NEWS LINKS

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

IN SOUTH AFRICA... KATE GILL

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 “Our Badges Create Scholars.”

IT TRULY IS... MARIAH RICHARDSON

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.

20 INFINITE SCHOLARS OP/ED

IT'S A WONDERFUL... METRO THEATER

46 58 Pictured are Moline Acres Chief of Police Colonel Ware, Police Officer Donaldson, and students Charmaine and Charles.

HEALTHCARE IN NORTH... BERNIE HAYES

FEAT. PROFESSION JUDGE JUDY DRAPER

34 LIVE/WORK/PLAY CALENDAR

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

IN THE NEWS

Export Opportunities in the Americas: Brazil, Canada & Mexico TIME | DATE | PLACE 8:00 am registration 8:30-10:00 am program Thursday, December 7, 2017 Please note NEW ADDRESS: World Trade Center St. Louis 120 South Central Ave. Suite 1200 St. Louis, MO 63105 REGISTRATION $20 REGISTRATION One-on-one appointments available following the program.

Learn about export opportunities in three major markets in the Americas region. Brazil is recovering from recent political and economic upheaval and reforms have seen growth in the energy and agricultural sectors in particular. Canada's economy has enjoyed greater than expected growth, outpacing all other members of the G7. Mexico continues to offer a wide range of opportunities for US exporters from industrial equipment and inputs to agricultural products. Speakers: Mr. Fabio Yukio Yamada Director, Missouri International Trade & Investment Office - Brazil Mr. Ludovic Ortuno Director, Missouri International Trade & Investment Office - Canada Ms. Gloria Garcia Director, Missouri International Trade & Investment Office - Mexico Click here to view speaker bios and learn more.

Contact John Hensley to schedule.

pg.

Your Source for Art Appreciation

Volume 2.1 March 4, 2015

St. Louis

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Please support our sponsors, many ofFEAT. ARTIST | BETTY ACHQUAH ..................................................... pg. 72

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

FEAT. COMIC | BLACK GOD .................................................................. pg. 90 FEAT. PHOTOGRAPHER | SYMONE SEVEN .................................. pg. 106 MILLION WOMEN MARCH | SAFIYAH CHAUVIN .......................... pg. 122 TIS' THE SEASON... | ART OF FOOD................................................. pg. 128 ART IS LABOR | BREAD & ROSES ...................................................... pg. 140 ISHMAEL REED | DR. JERRY WARD ................................................ pg. 144 OPPORTUNITIES | A.T.E.Z .................................................................. pg. 154

#ArtsTodayEZ

CAREERS | A.T.E.Z ................................................................................. pg. 156

Volume 5.12 Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019 December 31, 2019 www.the-arts-today.com

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OTHER

NEWS: A LOOK BACK...

HOW "STRANGE FRUIT"...

FORSYTH COUNTY...

ATLANTA DEBATE TEAM..

KERRY WASHINGTON...

FIVE INDIGENOUS...

STL MAG

SPECTRUM NEWS

SHADOW AND ACT

THE PROGRESSIVE

WSBTV

DEMOCRACY NOW

WILLIAM B. BRANCH, PLAYWRIGHT OF THE BLACK EXPERIENCE, DIES AT 92 THE NEW YORK TIMES

"THE OTHER AMERICA"... YOUTUBE (FAMOUS HISTORY)

'HE IS RIGHT ON ALL... WASHINGTON POST

NAACP ACCUSES... NEWSWEEK

3 MYTHS ABOUT BLACK... NEO-GRIOT

pg.

CHESTER TOWNSHIP FAMILY FIGHTS BACK... KYW NEWS RADIO

THE REAL LONE RANGER ... BET

NEW YORK IS INVESTIGATING UNITED HEALTH'S USE OF... BUSINESS INSIDER

INSPECTOR GENERAL... NBC NEWS

ENGINEER MOSES... ATLANTA BLACK STAR

FORT WORTH OFFICER ... WASHINGTON POST

FLOOD V. KUHN FROM ...

YOUTUBE (NLBMUSEUM)

BLACK MUSICIANS ARE STANDING BEHIND KIRK FRANKLIN ... HUFFINGTON POST

GOOGLE MAPS WILL... WJBF NEWS 6

THE BITTER HARVEST... THE UNDEFEATED

MASSACHUSETTEW MAYOR ARRESTED... USA TODAY

JESUITS SEEK DESCENDANTS.. ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

THIS MAN WANTS EAST ST. LOUIS... STL PUBLIC RADIO

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

In South Africa Activists Campaign to Remove Artwork by

Convicted Murderer of a Sex Worker In a public gesture of solidarity, artist Candice Breitz asked that her video installation, on view in a separate exhibition at the same art center, be removed and replaced by a #SayHerName sign. Nearly three years ago, painter-photographer Zwelethu Mthethwa was found guilty of murder after a long, laborious trial. But the conversation about Mthethwa’s crime was reignited last month when a new Cape Town museum, University of Pretoria’s Javett Art Center, featured the artist in an inaugural exhibition entitled All in a Day’s Eye: The Politics of Innocence. The exhibition, curated by Gabi Ngcobo, was designed, according to the Javett’s website, to “uncover themes ranging from education, culture, architecture, the natural environment, representation, beauty, the land, religion and politics, to name just a few.” Mthethwa, a high-profile South African artist, has since been serving an 18-year prison sentence for beating Nokuphila Kumalo, a 23-year-old sex worker, to a violent death in a suburb of Cape Town. The act was captured on pixelated CCTV footage, which was presented at Mthethwa’s trial — and largely sealed his conviction. According to local reports, many sex workers and advocates were present in the public gallery throughout Mthethwa’s four-year trial; several rose and applauded when the judge delivered her ruling. After Mthethwa’s conviction (though he has maintained his innocence), members of SWEAT (the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce) and other activists urged galleries and museums to pull Mthethwa’s work from their walls. (Spectators in the art world were struck by Mthethwa’s refusal to testify in court and his perceived lack of remorse; he notably has said the entire evening

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has been wiped from his memory.) In 2017, while Mthethwa was still on trial, the Iziko South African National Gallery included one of his untitled photographs (2012) in an exhibition that was ironically titled, Our Lady. “The Wedding Party” marks the first public reappearance of Mthethwa’s work since his 2017 conviction. Some fear that Javett, a newly-opened institution, has tacitly given auction houses, galleries, and museums permission to forget Mthethwa’s dark personal history — and disseminate his work. Once news surfaced of the artist’s presence in Politics of Innocence, SWEAT published an open letter and circulated a petition online, calling for the Javett Art Center to remove Mthethwa’s work, “The Wedding Party,” a 1996 pastel drawing. As of Monday, October 7, the petition has over 900 signatures. “The irony of promoting the work of a man convicted of murdering a woman as part of an exhibition in the backdrop of the gender-based violence and femicide epidemic in South Africa is a complete disregard of the agony and trauma this and all other acts of violence against womxn cause,” SWEAT’s letter reads. “This is in actual fact, a slap in the face of womxn who have been killed by men like Zwelethu Mthethwa, who in turns continue to be celebrated by the supremacist capitalist patriarchal world.” In a public gesture of solidarity, South African artist Candice Breitz asked that her video installation “Profile” (2017) — which was on view at a separate Javett exhibition, 101 Collecting Conversations: Signature Works of a Century — be powered off. “Ngcobo has effectively recuperated the work of Mthethwa for the Javett Foundation and offered a license for others who are invested in his work to bring it back into circulation and speculation … there will surely be a plethora of less well-intended collectors and speculators who will see fit to do the same,” Breitz wrote on Facebook.

A SWEAT activist holding a poster memorializing Nokuphila Kumalo. Candice Breitz asked that the poster be hung at the Javett to replace her withdrawn artwork. (photo by Sydelle Willow Smith, courtesy of SWEAT)

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

IN SOUTH AFRICA... cont.

Breitz also notes that the Javett Center shares in a legacy of powerful capital in South Africa’s art world. She requested her work at the art center be replaced with a poster that includes the phrase, #SayHerName — signifying the activist movement to spotlight brutal acts of violence against Black women and girls. The Javett Center did unplug “Profile,” but declined to feature a #SayHerName poster in its place. Prominent reproductive rights activist Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng and Kenyan poet and human rights activist Shailja Patel have both publicly criticized the Javett Art Center on social media for its decision to display Mthethwa’s work. Amid the controversy and SWEAT’s letter, Ngcobo and her research team wrote a direct response on the Javett’s website: “Our intention with showing Mthethwa’s work is with the sole purpose of presenting it as ‘evidence’ that highlights how misogyny has played out in his work over time. We can see through his work, the perpetuation of violence against women. We therefore elected to utilise his work to present a psycho-social analysis that exposes his violent actions as not emerging out of the blue.” Underneath Mthethwa’s work, a placard reads, in part: “The patriarchal gesture and the performance of masculinity present her as peripheral to the event. Through the window we see a white flag installed on top of a roof of a house, indicating, according to Zulu custom, that a man has ‘won’ the affections of a woman … Despite hard evidence proving otherwise, Mthethwa maintained his innocence by stating he did not remember his deeds.” The card (which was revised and expanded after SWEAT circulated its petition) continues, noting that the matrimonial scene between a man and a woman excludes the female, who sips her soft drink passively while her husband enjoys an animated conversation. The Javett Center has said it will not remove Mthethwa’s painting from its exhibition. Ngcobo also penned a lengthy op-ed on Monday, outlining her efforts to compromise with SWEAT and the thematic importance of Mthethwa’s work. The painting exists as a reminder of the violence against women that often goes unaddressed, the piece contends. “We, too, are saying #SayHerName…In essence, we are in agreement with SWEAT … A man who was in our midst for many years violently took Kumalo’s life,” the piece continues. “We cannot forget what he did, just because he is serving time. We employ the reading of his work as a critical strategy not an invitation to those who may still believe he should be celebrated. We chose to remember his and other violences by pointing at our own industry’s inability to address things that should never be tolerated.” ~Kate Gill (hyperallergic.com)

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

THE TEARS OF MOTHER EMANUEL

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

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

HEARTWARMING. CLEVER. ENCHANTING.

A RADIO PLAY WITHIN A PLAY pg.

It Truly is a Wonderful Life I could only think about my holiday ritual, each year, of waiting for Frank Capra’s, It’s A Wonderful Life to show up in the television line-up, along with A Charlie Brown Christmas, The 2D animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and A Christmas Story. In It’s A Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart is the strong and emotional George Bailey. Donna Reed, the loving and supportive wife. I love the Hollywood ending; all the community comes together and helps George out. So, I was curious about Metro Theater Company’s production which included a radio play. I wondered what did a radio play have to do with this film that I have long cherished? Turns out, that this delightful reworking of the telling of the story, a play inside of a play, written by staff member, John Wolbers, is just as wonderful as the Capra film, albeit, it is not the same. I asked John about why he decided to write this show. He said that Julia Flood (Artistic Director) who also directed the piece, suggested it because she wanted a show for the holidays. I was also interested in why she picked this show and she said that the point of the piece is to show that one person can impact a community. And their absence can also impact the community. It makes you wonder, what would the world be if we all were fully participating or fully absent. I like to think that all of us together is what makes life beautiful, magical, extraordinary.

Each cast member not only plays their character at the radio station but also a character in the radio show. Which brings about some funny moments. Especially Nicole Angeli who plays Ruby, the janitor, as well as Mr. Potter and other minor characters. The way Ruby hams it up will have you laughing out loud. Carl Overly, Jr plays the self-important radio master of ceremonies, Chester Collins and gets quite frustrated when he is upstaged by Ruby. But he gives great 1940s radio voice. Roxane McWilliams (Minnie Hoople), Alicia Reve’ Like (June Kelly), and Mindy Shaw (Vera Hayes) do what women do best; handle business. Abraham Shaw plays Walter Bell, the unsuspecting mailman , who is finishing his route and eager to get home to his wife and child is wrangled into playing George Bailey. And an ample George he is. Rounding out the cast is Chris Ware (Floyd Rogers) the Foley. He creates the sound effects that were once standard in radio plays. All the things that piques a child’s imagination and perhaps experimentation on household items.

{

Set at the fictional KMTC radio station, in the 1940s, the audience is compelled to participate as the live studio audience. The set, built by Jamie Perkins, transports us back to time when buildings were warmed with radiated heat and the black and white tile floor was all the fashion. The piece put me in mind of the play, Into the Breeches, by George Brant. The staff at the station is thrown into the show because the usual cast cannot perform. In this case it is not war but because of illness. It is either skip the show, that they

The show runs 50 minutes and is perfect for in school performances. Although this is MTC’s public performance show and will not tour. But it makes a great afternoon of theatre or an early evening for the kids. The production runs at the: Grandel Theater, 3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, MO 63108

Sundays at 2pm,

November 17, 24; December 1,8,15

Fridays at 7pm,

November 22, December 6, 13 (No performance on November 29)

Saturdays at 4pm,

November 23, 30; December 7 (No Saturday performance Dec. 14)

Tickets are $14-$20 and are available at MetroTix at 314.534.1111 or http://www.metrotix.com/events/detatil/metro-theater-company-its-a-wonderful-life. Just as Capra’s film version is a classic, I believe that Metro has done a splendid job of creating a classic of their own. Do yourself a favor this holiday season and go see this play!

Photo by Jennifer Lin

have worked on all year, or everyone has to pitch in and make it work. No one is spared. Not the janitor nor the mailman. This is tradition, for heaven’s sake. And like true theatre folk, the show must go on. Copyright © 2017 - All rights reserved.

~Mariah L. Richardson

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

“Let’s Read A Photoplay!” Popular Photographic Histories in Nigeria

Dr. Olubukola Gbadegesin Visiting Associate Professor of African & African-American Studies

TUESDAY 12.03.19 SEIGLE 306 4:30PM-6:OOPM By the 1950s, photographs became an increasingly familiar sight in popular print media throughout Africa. Commonly found in “modern” magazines, photographs were also enlisted to illustrate graphic novels that told dramatic pulp stories based on American models. This paper takes a closer look at one of these magazines—Atoka: The Yorùbá Photoplay Series—which was written in local Yoruba dialect, with stories inspired by local traveling theatre practices in southwestern Nigeria. Although, Atoka was part of a continent-wide phenomenon of “photonovels”, it stood out by using photographs to address local audiences through sensory (visual, oral, etc), didactic (moral, comedic, etc) and discursive (political, religious, etc) registers. Amid historical debates about modernist consciousness, class, consumerism, and nationalism, Atoka offered an informal and highly dialogic space for public discourse. This talk will explore how artifacts of cultural histories mediated local, “national”, and pan-African discussions about cultural and political identity, even as African states navigated decolonization and its postcolonial aftermath. Sponsored by the Department of African & African-American Studies

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

OP / ED SECTION

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

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

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.

guidance. Our foremothers 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

PERSPECTIVE:

Right now it might do us some good to call upon our ancestors for wisdom, strength and

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.

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Sarah Thompson, Director of Communications and Media 314.884.8306, sarah@metroplays.org

Metro Theater Company Presents It’s a Wonderful Life at the Grandel Theatre, November 17 – December 15 America’s beloved holiday classic is reinvented as a radio play within a play

Playwright John Wolbers’ fresh adaptation, in a production directed by Julia Flood, introduces a new generation to the favorite holiday tale WHO:

Metro Theater Company

WHAT: It’s a Wonderful Life Metro Theater Company (MTC) presents It’s a Wonderful Life at the Grandel Theatre in the Grand Center Arts District, November 17 - December 15. The beloved American holiday classic leaps to captivating life on stage in this heartwarming, enchanting adaptation by St. Louis playwright John Wolbers. Wolbers’ It’s a Wonderful Life has a clever twist: the story is staged as a play within a play, more specifically a 1940s live radio broadcast within a play. Complete with microphones, live sound effects by a Foley artist, 1940s period costumes and a diverse company of characters, the adaptation charmingly tells the story of George Bailey and the town of Bedford Falls and brilliantly touches on all the fascinating character backstories. The play also illuminates the powerful, life-affirming message that one life can change the whole fabric of a community. Set in a radio station, KMTC Radio St. Louis, on Christmas Eve 1949, the cast transforms from their radio station staff characters into multiple characters from Bedford Falls as they live broadcast It’s a Wonderful Life. The witty, heartwarming script includes references to St. Louis favorites such as Forest Park, and the cast even sings “Meet Me in St. Louis.” It also includes some audience participation, with the real audience (at The Grandel) serving as the play’s live studio audience, clapping every time the light-up applause sign activates. Metro Theater Company commissioned this new adaptation, which not only brings audiences back to the golden age of radio, a time when radios were considered a household necessity and families gathered around them for news and entertainment, but it is also appealing to young and old alike. From the humor to the characters to the play’s duration of 50 minutes, It’s a Wonderful Life ushers in a new generation of fans and allows older audiences to introduce the holiday mainstay to their children and grandchildren. “I am delighted to bring this holiday classic for the whole family to the Grandel stage,” said Julia Flood, artistic director at Metro Theater Company. “This fresh take on the story is deeply rooted in bringing community together and will be magic in the hands of this talented ensemble of actors.” Metro Theater Company Artistic Director Julia Flood directs It’s a Wonderful Life. The seven-member cast portrays multiple characters. The cast includes Carl Overly, Jr.; Chris E. Ware; Roxane McWilliams; Alicia Revé Like; Nicole Angeli; Mindy Shaw; and Abraham Shaw.

WHEN:

November 17 – December 15, 2019 - more -

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

METRO THEATER CO.... cont.

Metro Theater Company presents It’s a Wonderful Life, Page 2

Sundays at 2 p.m.: November 17, 24; December 1, 8, 15 Fridays at 7 p.m.: November 22; December 6, 13 (*No performance on Friday, November 29) Saturdays at 4 p.m.: November 23, 30; December 7 (*No performance on Saturday, December 14)

WHERE: The Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, MO 63108 TICKETS: Tickets are $14- $20, and are available now through MetroTix at 314-534-1111 or

https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/metro-theater-company-its-a-wonderful-life. $20 adults; $16 children 10 and under; $14 groups of 10 or more.

For more information, please visit metroplays.org or call Metro Theater Company at 314-932-7414.

NOTES: It’s a Wonderful Life is 50 minutes, followed by a 10-minute Q&A between the cast and audience. The play is recommended for ages 8 and up. Major support for It’s a Wonderful Life is provided by Arts & Education Council, Berges Family Foundation, Kranzberg Arts Foundation, Missouri Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and Regional Arts Commission. The Grandel Theatre is a Kranzberg Arts Foundation venue in Grand Center. About the Adaptation: It’s a Wonderful Life was adapted by St. Louis playwright John Wolbers. He has adapted 13 of Shakespeare's plays and a stage parody of The Lord of the Rings series. He is the author of two original plays: The Playing Ground and Doctor Faustus, or the Modern Prometheus, which received a St. Louis Theater Circle Award nomination for Outstanding New Play. John is also the producing associate at Metro Theater Company, and has worn many hats for MTC over the years: actor, puppeteer, teaching artist, producing associate and playwright. For the last six years, he has interviewed teachers and students across St. Louis to write scenes of realistic middle school bullying for the innovative bullying prevention program, Say Something, Do Something. About Metro Theater Company: Since 1973, Metro Theater Company has been creating accessible sensory productions that respect young people’s intelligence, tell compelling stories, stimulate curiosity and provoke thoughtful reflection. The Company has reached a total audience of more than two million and has a national reputation for excellence in the field of professional theater for young audiences. Metro Theater Company has received major honors and awards, both locally and nationally. The company is led by Artistic Director Julia Flood and Managing Director Joe Gfaller. For more information, visit http://metroplays.org. For media inquiries, interviews, cast bios and/or press images and video, please contact Sarah Thompson at sarah@metroplays.org or 314.884.8306. ###

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All Aboard! Ride the Polar Express Now through December 30th

[

St. Louis Union Station 1820 Market Street St. Louis, MO 63103

Here is a very special chance for you and the entire family to experience the magic of The Polar Express, the classic children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg. THE POLAR EXPRESS™ comes to life on a journey to the enchanted beauty of “the North Pole”—where Santa Claus and his reindeer are waiting with a keepsake present for every good boy and girl. THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride departs from St. Louis Union Station for a 45 minute adventure to the North Pole filled with magic, songs, and cheer. For more information click here. Purchase Ticket Here.

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

â&#x20AC;&#x153; â&#x20AC;&#x153;

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

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)

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

QUICK REVIEW

It is the first day of the month, and also Friday, which means that First Fridays is upon us in Grand Center. Enjoy the fall exhibitions at the museums & galleries which will be open and free until 9pm! There will be a DJ spinning at KDHX and live music from Point of View Jazz Ensemble in Strauss Park. The Contemporary Art Museum invites you to warm up with hot chocolate tastings from Botanical Roasters; show your city pride with St. Louis-inspired emoji button-making with STL Style House and dance to the sounds of DJ Syna So Pro. It’s going to be a great time!

Starting on Monday the 4th, the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival fills up a generous couple weeks of literary excitement through shared stories by outstanding authors.

tance that is sure to engage and enlighten the community.

Crazy Bowls and Wraps in Creve Coeur invites you to stop by from 11am-8pm on Wednesday the 6th for special offers and prizes to commemorate their 25th Anniversary! The first 25 attendees will

receive a swag bag. Now you know what’s for lunch!

On Saturday the 16th, this is your chance to get information on a topic that many of us have been curious about: How to Publish Your Own Book: What You Need to Know at the St. Louis Publishers Association event.

On Monday the12th and Tuesday 13th it’s once again time to dance…in your seat, at least…when Tommy Halloran’s Guerilla Swing plays tunes that will have you swaying at The Sheldon. Enjoy the evening!Join the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of

Several mances at The

stellar perforare scheduled Fabulous Fox….

Enchantment awaits with the timeless Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker from the 20th through 21st. Hear a different kind of sound on Friday the 22nd when Straight No Chaser at The Fox wows the audience. Mannheim Steamroller celebrates 35 years holding the top honor as the country’s favorite holiday music ensemble on the 23rd.

NOVEMBER

Trumpeter Terence Blanchard FT. - The E-Collective blows at Jazz St. Louis from the 20th through 24th. A great week of music in STL!

I would love to join you, however, Cardina and I will be celebrating our 15th wedding Anniversary, off sailing the seas for a few days! The 1st offers something more… Big Love: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac at Delmar Hall. Something special indeed! On the 2nd, an all-day event, the In Motion Film Making Conference is a true venture into creativity. There will be over 30 speakers, 200 filmmakers, and a happy hour, all at Covo, a great co-working space in Downtown STL.

The Monocle Emerald Room spices up the weekend from the 7th through 9th with Incubating Now: A Benefit Cabaret, Trans Spectrum Conference, and Boom Boom Burlesque, plus an extensive, jazzy cocktail menu for every taste. Join the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Tau Center in Kirkwood for An Evening with Mike Roberts: Climate Change from the Vatican to the Pentagon on Tuesday the 12th. Roberts, a former meteorologist, hosts a discussion of great impor-

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Perpetual Help Tau Center in Kirkwood for An Evening with Mike Roberts: Climate Change from the Vatican to the Pentagon on Tuesday the 12th. Roberts, a former meteorologist, hosts a discussion of great importance that is sure to engage and enlighten the community.

Join the fine folks at Consuming Kinetics Dance Company for their second ever Trivia Night! The theme (you guessed it) dance, in celebration of their 10th Season as a company! In addition to some great trivia, you’ll enjoy a performance by CKDC’s Junior Company, a Silent Auction, Raffle Drawings and First Place Prize to the winning table! The festivities are all at . Zack. There will also be an optional Dance Off where only one individual will be crowned the Night’s Champion!

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Concerts start this week off right: Monday the 25th with Dreamers at Old Rock House and Tuesday the 26th it’s Black Mountain at Blueberry Hill. On Thanksgiving Day the 28th, the morning hours set the tone for a special day when family and friends feast and fraternize. You’ll feel no guilt about filling up on all the fixings (and getting warm and settled!) after taking part in the Olivette Turkey Trot 2019 (the purchase of a beanie enters you in a raffle). Listen in rapt awe as the ethereal voices of the Vienna Boys Choir fill the majestic space of the Cathedral Basilica on the 29th. This annual concert is a treat to start the holiday season.

Rock House and Tuesday the 26th it’s Black Mountain at Blueberry Hill. On Thanksgiving Day the 28th, the morning hours set the tone for a special day when family and friends feast and fraternize. You’ll feel no guilt about filling up on all the fixings (and getting warm and settled!) after taking part in the Olivette Turkey Trot 2019 (the purchase of a beanie enters you in a raffle). Listen in rapt awe as the ethereal voices of the Vienna Boys Choir fill the majestic space of the Cathedral Basilica on the 29th. This annual concert is a treat to start the holiday season.

Concerts start this week off right: Monday the 25th with Dreamers at Old

NOVEMBER

QUICK REVIEW

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LIVE WORK PLAY

Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019 St. Louis

My apologies for leaving you hanging for the first half of the month! Fortunately, the real estate market has been keeping us on our toes helping our clients achieve their real estate goals. As we grow closer to the end of the year, it is a great time to reflect on our successes and the other things that we can learn from. Speaking of successes, my beloved St. Louis has done a great job of delivering another great month for us to enjoy. I hope that you’ll join me in getting out and living a beautiful life in St. Louis this month! All the best. –Nate

As my daughter, Nylah said, tonight will be the last Friday, the 13th of the decade! What better way to enjoy it than to check out millions of lights at the Missouri Botanical Garden at the Garden Glow, a favorite spot to stroll and revel in the holiday spirit. This evening, you’ll also find a couple of art opening receptions. The Winter Group Show at the Houska Gallery and the Opening Reception: Jill Hackney & Perry Haas at the Duane Reed Gallery, both in the Central West End. I haven’t seen Boogie Chyld in years! If you are looking for something to do this evening, check them out at 1860 Saloon, down in Soulard. This party band is certainly a crowd pleaser!

DECEMBER

Also this weekend, and throughout the rest of the month, you and the family will enjoy several fun events at the St. Louis Zoo: Breakfast with Santa, Dinner with Santa, and Wild Lights. Choose a favorite or attend them all this holiday season! Catch the 34th Annual Brewery Lights will be at Anheuser-Busch as well! I cry every time I see the movie, but I haven’t seen the play yet. This weekend will be our chance as the bells will be ringing and angels will get their wings as Metro Theater Company performs It’s a Wonderful Life at The Grandel. If you are looking for him this weekend, have no fear as the fine folks at St. Louis Magazine have put together a great list of places Where to See Santa Claus in St. Louis this weekend.

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Local Events DECEMBER

On Saturday, you might want to head Midtown to check out the Urban Chestnut Brewery where you will find their Winter Market, complete with local vendors on hand for holiday shopping, food & drink specials, hot chocolate, fire pits & live music! to the Central West End to check out the CWE Window Walk Holiday Market. Enjoy live music, warm drinks and free donuts! Later tomorrow, you’ll find me and my lovely bride at the 100 Black Men Winter Royale fundraising gala. Dirty Muggs will be on stage! This weekend, and throughout December you and the family will enjoy several fun events at the St. Louis Zoo: Breakfast with Santa, Dinner with Santa, and Wild Lights. Choose a favorite or attend them all this holiday season! The 34th Annual Brewery Lights will be at Anheuser Busch as well! I’ve been doing some research, and you may be shocked to know that the City of Overland has experienced the highest

median home sale price increase in St. Louis County over the last decade. This weekend, you can check out the winners of the Overland Christmas Light Contest and see the town for yourself! Make the season merry and bright at Winter Celebrations at the Saint Louis Art Museum! This family-friendly extravaganza of performances, art activities, and festivities is inspired by the warmth of the season and traditions from around the world. Drop in for performances by community groups like Afriky Lolo, St. Louis Osuwa Taiko, and Hispanic Festival, Inc. You can also enjoy art making and cookie decorating with your little ones during this special, free two-day festival on Saturday and Sunday. An unforgettable evening is planned for holiday revelers: the Mercy Holiday Celebration with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Holiday Festival Chorus, will delight you and your friends and family all weekend long.

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Also this weekend, be sure to head over to Better Family Life for an event that draws families and shoppers from the entire St. Louis metropolitan area for food, fun, education, and entertainment. The BFL Kwanzaa Holiday Expo is a 35-year old tradition where you can purchase hand crafted, artisan and hand selected goods. The stage will be grooving all day long with performances. You›ll also find lectures and discussion panels along with a Children›s Village to become more familiar with the 7 principles of Kwanzaa. If you are looking for more unique gifts this holiday season, head over to South County for a one-day-only indoor Holiday Pop-Up Shop, featuring a variety of local artists and vendors at the Laumeier Pop-Up Shop! You can head over to The Hill neighborhood for an event that you’ll never forget! Visit with Babbo Natale who is the Italian Santa, and take selfies with a Real Reindeer all while enjoying a nativity petting zoo, Carriage rides, cookie decorating for the kids, train rides, gift village and more at the Old World Christmas on The Hill! An educational experience at The Missouri History Museum is available for you at Segregation in the City symposium that explores the steps that St. Louis, Baltimore, and Kansas City are taking to confront issues of segregated housing and policy solutions. You›ll find my friend, Washington University Professor Molly Metzger, along with several others discussing how to break down the lasting legacy of housing inequality. Enjoy another Kwanzaa Celebration and support the youth, the community, artists, and small business at St. Louis ArtWorks. This free event is complete with a fashion show, live art, music and vendors.

continu

All weekend, Candy Cane Lane Trolley Tours gives you a chance to enjoy the Holiday Lights of Candy Cane Lane, the Anheuser- Busch Brewery and Webster Groves Lights while riding aboard an authentic old-fashioned trolley. The trolley is enclosed, heated, and decorated and will be playing holiday music. St. Louis Holiday Light Hopping has done a great job of curating a list of the best spots to check out holiday lights all across the region. Check it out! Finally, this weekend, you can head to University City to check out some amazing talent as three talented dance ensembles will be blessing the stage at COCA. You’ll find COCAdance, Ballet Eclectica and the COCA Hip-Hop Crew rocking the house at Winter Rep: A Movement in Color.

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The 17th is the last day for us to get Free Weekly Chess Lessons at Apotheosis Comics . Maybe I’ll get good enough to beat Nylah! On Wednesday, the 18th, you can get into the groove at Jazz St. Louis with Nate Smith + Kinfolk. This talented drummer and his band fuses his original modern jazz compositions with R&B, pop, and hip-hop. This weekend you might like to see Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Check out the full list of exhibitions here. On Saturday the 21st Lioness: The Amy Winehouse Tribute will be at The Grandel Theatre with special guest Hillary Fitz. Saturday, Yoga with Jamie will be hosting her Last Yoga Class of the year The Last Hotel.

DECEMBER

Through the 22nd at Laumeier Sculpture Park the Sam Falls: Conception exhibit will please viewers as it reflects the landscape in a lovely and creative way. Don’t forget about Winter Wonderland in Tilles Park. This tradition is a favorite outing for many who make it a yearly excursion, so bundle up and join in the fun!

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This week, St. Louis Ballet is presenting The Nutcracker, on the vast stage at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. It incorporates spectacular effects such as glitter, smoke and pyrotechnics plus new choreogVolume 5.12 raphy each year to keep this holiday classic fresh. www.the-arts-today.com December 31, 2019

LIVE WORK PLAY

Why not be the life of the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s parties? Learn the tricks to getting some laughs on the 23rd at CszStLouis Improv Comedy Workshop at Pat Connelly Tavern. Enjoy a tasty dinner while you’re there. This week, St. Louis Ballet is presenting The Nutcracker, on the vast stage at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. It incorporates spectacular effects such as glitter, smoke and pyrotechnics plus new choreography each year to keep this holiday classic fresh. This week, St. Louis Ballet is presenting The Nutcracker, on the vast stage at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. It incorporates spectacular effects such as glitter, smoke and pyrotechnics plus new choreography each year to keep this holiday classic fresh.

DECEMBER

23 thru

DECEMBER

Why not be the life of the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s parties? Learn the tricks to getting some laughs on the 23rd at CszStLouis Improv Comedy Workshop at Pat Connelly Tavern. Enjoy a tasty dinner while you’re there. On Friday, singer-songwriter Phoebe Elliot will be having a release party for her new CD This is Who I am. Also on Friday, My Posse in Effect , which is a tribute to the Beastie Boys will be rockin’ the mic at Delmar Hall. Sunday will be your last chance at the Contemporary Art Museum to see Stephanie Syjuco: Rogue States exhibition. With family and friends gathered for the holidays, it’s the perfect occasion to see the spectacular new St. Louis Aquarium at St. Louis Union Station. It’s grand opening is sold out on Christmas Day, but hopefully, you can check it out before the end of the year. You also can hop aboard The Polar Express Train Ride! with the kids. Their eyes will sparkle with delight time of year in downtown St. Louis! And... be sure to savor something delicious in the station’s new restaurants. On the 29th, you can check out the Last Brunch of the decade at The Last Hotel on Washington Avenue! Anticipation: Pre-New Year Party, The start of a new year is always an exciting time filled with anticipation of what’s to come and the Angad Arts Hotel is kicking off the celebration early with live music by Laka! Feel free to wear that glittery dress and your Sunday’s best! As always, all are welcome and even better than your standard NYE party, there is no cover charge. As you can see, there are plenty of great ways to enjoy St. Louis over the next month. I hope that you have a lovely holiday season, and a safe and prosperous new year! Please don’t hesitate to let me know if there is anything that I can do for you. All the best. –Nate

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P.S. Here is the latest Housing Report. It shows that pending sales are down about 7% from last year, and the inventory continues to be low as it is down about 22% from last year. If you have any questions about how this affects you, just let me know. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be happy to provide some more insight. Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you. -Nate

Nate K. Johnson ABR,AHWD,CIPS,CRS,GRI,SRES Real Estate Solutions Group Redkey Realty Leaders 314-575-7352 Direct 314-514-9600 Office nate@livingstl.com www.livingstl.com

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism.â&#x20AC;? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Healthcare in North St. Louis

[

is Critical

Healthcare in North St. Louis is critical and finally, maybe, hopefully a hospital will be headed to an area of north St. Louis that some city officials call a health desert. We have been asking for hospital beds on the north side for decades, and EVERY ELECTION, candidates for offices in these areas promise that health care is their number one or number two priority. Now It appears The St. Louis Board of Aldermen can’t agree on the Healthworks Hospital Project. Fifth Alderwoman Tammika Hubbard, says it’s been years since there’s been development in the ward and the HealthWorks project would launch as a three-bed hospital, with a 24-hour emergency room, and plans to expand to a medical corridor.

needed in this community,” she said. “We need it, we need it.”

Are the city fathers and others ready now to admit that former 4th Ward Alderman Clifford Wilson, Clay Claiborne, Jr. and others were correct in revealing the so called ‘Team 4 Plan?’ In 1975, Wilson, Claiborne and others released the summary of ‘Team Four Inc.’s City-wide Implementation ElementThe Interim Comprehensive Plan.’ They described the proposal or plot as ‘ a racist attack on the people of St. Louis, by letting the black community rot by cutting services and discouraging investments, then move the people out by condemning their homes and finally allowing developers to come in and put up expensive housing and profitable industry.’ The proposal allegedly surfaced in 1973 by Aldermen John Roach and Richard Gephardt. The two bills they introduced were allegedly designed to preserve 74,000 buildings on the Southside, while destroying 70,000 houses in North St. Louis.

According to an outline of the project, Northside Regeneration, the city, and developers would foot the almost $73 million project. Hubbard said “currently, the area that I represent there is not one hospital in North St. Louis at all and especially not in the Fifth Ward,”. The facility would be located at the intersection of Jefferson and Cass. Hubbard says access is especially needed for the people in that area. “We have some of the worst ailments in our community healthcare. We have the least life expectancy, highest infant mortality rates, highest rates of hypertension and diabetes, so this project was definitely one that was Copyright © 2017 - All rights reserved.

I read in “St. Louis Heritage Trail” that in 1937, when Homer G. Phillips Hospital, also known as City Hospital No. 2, was established, it was www.the-arts-today.com

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HEALTHCARE IN NORTH... cont.

described as ‘the largest and best equipped institution in the world dedicated to the care of the indigent sick of the black population, and also for the training of black doctors. Until it’s closing in 1979, the hospital provided health care for the North St. Louis community. As one of the few fully equipped facilities in

to facilities to save you or your loved ones if either suffers a heart attack, or another traumatic illness. I hope so. I also hope that traveling miles to the hospital, you do not get stuck in traffic by sports fans going to the new spots stadium that your local governments are financing. I assume it is all right because I do not hear many complaints. But how could I hear anything for such a sleeping, silent community? It is not your decision anymore. ~Bernie Hayes .

the country where black doctors, nurses and technicians receive training, the influence of Homer G. Phillips Hospital spread throughout the nation.’ Have you forgotten there were two city hospitals and a county hospital that took care of poor people? I guess it really does not matter if you have full hospital and medical coverage. I suppose all of you have enough money to pay for your elderly loved one’s medicine and long-term care. I suppose you have cars and vans fast enough to rush you pg.

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&ERASED

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

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Socks that heal broken a he a rts DONATE Socks for Courtney is a fund-raiser/Sock Drive in memory of Courtney Adavia Kemp

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Fred

Frith SOLO GUITAR PERFORMANCE

Saturday, December 14, 2019 Joe's Cafe 6014 Kingsbury Ave 7pm doors open / 8pm concert begins $20.00 regular admission / $10.00 students & struggling music supporters Advanced tickets are recommended and available HERE

enowned and exploratory British guitarist/composer Fred Frith is an icon of avant-garde music, employing a rare musical intelligence, accompanied by an omnipresent sense of humor. Born in 1949 and raised in Yorkshire, England, Frith has been actively involved in a broad spectrum of musical initiatives since the late 1960s, starting with the iconic rock collective Henry Cow, and has long since been internationally recognized as an

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FRED FRITH... cont.

exceptional electric guitarist, improviser, songwriter, and composer for film, dance, and theater. Frith has performed and recorded with a veritable whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s who of modern music including Lotte Anker, Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, Alvin Curran, Brian Eno,kue Mori, The Residents, Christian Wolff, Robert Wyatt, and John Zorn, among many others. His original musical works have been documented on over 400 recordings. Since 1995, Fred Frith has been teaching composition at Mills College in Oakland, CA

Fred Frith will lead a following-day workshop and artist talk in Old North St. Louis. This event is free and open to the public. Free coffee and bagels will be provided.

Fred Frith - Artist Talk & Workshop Sunday, December 15th 1:30pm at 14th Street Artist Community

FREE

Facebook RSVP HERE for updates and info

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Joe's Cafe seating is first come first serve. Please arrive early to find a seat that suits you. Please park on Des Peres Only (Kingsbury is residential parking only)

RSVP on the Facebook event page for promotions and concert updates HERE. + FREE ADDITIONAL WORKSHOP - Fred Frith will lead an artist talk, demonstration, and q+a the day after this performance. Details are below and at newmusiccircle.org

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Slave Revolt Watch Black Archaeologist, the animated black history hero time travel to a slave revolt in seventeeth century America.

Watch on Youtube

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Black Archaeologist SEASON #7 EPISODE #8

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Featured

Profession

Submission

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Judge Judy

[

Draper

Judge Judy Draper

was appointed associate circuit judge on April 13, 2004 by Gov. Bob Holden. She received her Bachelor of Science in labor relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977. She received her Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law in 1980 with Law Journal honors. Her professional affiliations include membership in the Mound City Bar Association, National Bar Association and Missouri Asian American Bar Association. She also served as an American Bar Association delegate. Judge Draper’s civic involvement includes: service to Hope House (an organization focused on transitional housing for women); Covenant Community Church; Korean American Association; and The Links, International (a civic, educational and cultural organization). She has been a speaker for several bar associations locally and nationally on various topics, including diversity, women’s issues and international trends. She wrote the article, “Ordinance Violation Right to a Jury Trial in Missouri” for Benchmark, a publication for the Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges Association. In her biographical information, she notes that from 2007-2010 she cleared a docket of 11,000 more cases than the other five judges handling the civil docket. Judge Draper has received the following awards and recognition: 2011 Theodore McMillian Judicial Excellence Award; Excellence in Service Award for Outstanding Women for Justice; St. Louis Metro "Yes I Can" - Jewel of the Community Award. 2012 Torch Bearer Award, Missouri Asian American Bar Association; National Council of Negro Women Community Service Award. •

2013 YWCA Outstanding Service Award

•

2013 YWCA "Judge Judy Draper Beating the Odds Award"

•

2014 NAACP Medgar Evers Legal Legends Award

•

2015 YWCA Metro St. Louis Leader of Distinction

Judge Draper is married to Missouri Supreme Court Judge George W. Draper III. They are members of Covenant Community Church. The following pictures are from an event that Judge Judy Draper took part in at Harris Stowe State College this year.

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Judge Judy Draper continues to serve St. Louis youth in Law Education. (Harris Stowe State College) pg.

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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.

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All Month: Storytime Theater presents A Christmas Carol In an inclusive interpretation of Charles Dickens’ beloved classic, Christmas Eve provides a backdrop to explore the arrival of four spirits sent from beyond to teach a miserly Scrooge about the interconnectedness of people and the importance of kindness, compassion and community.

Nov. 9: Play Date Theater presents The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus Metro Theater Company presents “The Girl Who Swallowed A Cactus.” Filled with magical realism and surprises at every turn, this funny story of friendship and imagination will bring the desert landscape to life.

Nov. 13: Meet Read It Forward Author Tiffany D. Jackson The author and illustrator will engage the audience by reading and drawing characters from her book "Stack the Cats." Susie will discuss where her ideas come from and the process of making a book.

Nov. 13: Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century The St. Louis Public Library is proud to collaborate with Jazz St. Louis for this special event with author Nate Chinen."Playing Changes," in jazz parlance, has long referred to an improviser's resourceful path through a chord progression.

St. Louis Public Library 1301 Olive Street St. Louis, MO 63103 314-241-2288 slpl.org

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Featured

Artist

Submission

pg.

Betty

Acquah

{ BIO

Mrs. Betty Somuah Boateng (a.k.a Betty Acquah ) was born Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana, West Africa. She attended Wesley Girls’ High School and Holy Child School both in Cape Coast. She proceeded to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi for her B.A. (Hons) Art course where she obtained a First Class Degree. She later completed an M.F.A. (Painting) Programme in the same university after a professional Art course at the Tokyo School of Art (T.S.A.) in Tokyo, Japan. The artist worked at the Art Gallery of the Centre for National Culture, Greater Accra Region, Accra from 1989 to 1993. She later worked at the Berj Art Gallery also in Accra from 2002 to 2005. Betty is a Full Member of the Ghana Association of Visual Artists (G.A.V.A) which is one of the Agencies under the Ministry of Culture. Betty has exhibited her paintings in Ghana, Nigeria, UK, India, Germany, Spain, Japan and USA. The artist is currently working as a freelance artist and her studio is located in Accra. She is affiliated to G.A.V.A. and the Artists Alliance Gallery Accra. Betty’s painting, “Water of Life” is displayed at the Bentil’s Private Gallery.

For more information email: info@thebentils.com.

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Shop Online Today at NOrepublicansNEEDED.com

Wear Your Disgust on Your Tshirt

N e w s .T s h i r t s . C h a r i t y

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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.

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Featured

Comic

Submission

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Black

God Comics

Blackgodcomics is

pushing for the representation of black characters in the comic medium. We are offering our services to other creators as well, to help others get access to quality work with affordable rates. Email me at blackgodcomics@gmail.com and follow blackgodcomics on all social media !!!

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Available -

NOW!

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PRE-ORDER TODAY::

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King death. Here is my new book "My Mother. Barack Obama. Donald Trump. And the Last Stand of the Angry White Man," honest look at America 50 years later on race, sexual violence, guns, more.

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ART OF BEAUTY

Ways to Sneak Exercise into the Holidays

ave you been banging out a work out regimen for a while now? If so, you might be wondering how to enjoy the Holiday foods you love, while maintaining your current fitness level.

With the Holidays come shorter days and lots that need to be done which can increase stress levels in some. Eating healty or finding the time to exercise can be hard. Here are 5 ways that you can sneak working out into your Holidays to avoid packing on too many unwanted pounds:

Play with the kids.

Running after or with the kids can be a good way to get your heart pumping and a good sweat going. Or, if you've had a decent snow, go outdoors with the kids and make snow angels, throw snowballs and/or make snow angels.

Go Skating.

This might not be for everyone, but if you love to skate, get the family together and go out for a few laps around the skating ring. You could also consider taking in ice skating since it is the Holidays :-)

A walk in the park.

Get the family and the dog

out to take a walk in the neighborhood or a park to look at holiday decorations. Here in St. Louis we have the zoo which is free and it hosts the 1 million lights show from Novermber 29th through December 30th.

Park farther away.

During the holidays most parking lots will be full of people who are preparing for celebrations and other events. Instead of riding around looking for a close parking spot, consider parking toward the back of the parking lot and walking to the destination. If you're visiting multiple malls or stores these burned calories can add up.

Hit the stairs.

Inclement weather often prevent people from going outside for runs or walks. If you can't venture outside to exercise consider making a workout of going up and down your stairs multiple times.

You do not have to become a couch potato during the holidays. These 5 simple suggestions are a great way to make sure you and your family burn off some of the calories taken from the wonderful holiday food. (And they provide an excuse to indulge a bit more than your regular meals). Remember: When starting any work out routine, consult your doctor before starting a regimen if you have serious health conditions.

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PhotograpHE Submission

Symone: @SymoneSeven | pg.

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Symone

Seven

Brown Skin Girls [ BIO

PhotograpHER, Symone Seven creates work that breaks barriers on and off camera. She began photography in 2017 with only a basic Nikon camera, a $20 tripod, and no connections being new to Atlanta. In her first year alone, she shot over 100 photo shoots, celebrity cients, and fashion shows. Today, Seven is a photo retouch educator, creative director and photograpHER newly relocated to San Francisco, California. Whether she is directing a fashion magazine spread, hosting a retouch class or shooting her own beauty editorial, her one goal is to expand the representation of women everywhere. Seven to translate her journey into an online platform for minority creators and to continue to open doors in the photography and film space. Website: www.symoneseven.com Social Media Link Tree: www.symoneseven.com/hello

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Rachelle: @OdetotheSun | pg.

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Nasia: @EmpressFusion | www.the-arts-today.com

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Mia: @ImNotModelMia | pg.

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Lorrie: @GottaLoveLorrie | www.the-arts-today.com

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Sadie: @SadieExotic | www.the-arts-today.com

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#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.

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“

”

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. -- Charles Mingus

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

LEXINGTON BOOKS https://Rowman.com/Lexington

Special 30% discount offer! The Black Speculative Arts Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design ♦♦♦

Edited by Reynaldo Anderson and Clinton R. Fluker Foreword by Sheree Renée Thomas CONTRIBUTIONS BY Reynaldo Anderson, Souleymane Ba, Wriply Marie Bennet, Iain Campbell, Enrique Carrion, Dariel Cobb, Tim Fielder, Clinton R. Fluker, Sherese Francis, John Jennings, Amber Johnson, Jessi Jumanji, Natasha A. Kelly, Sheeba Maya, Susana M. Morris, Dike Okoro, Rasheeda Phillips, Stacey Robinson, Erik Steinskog, Toniesha L. Taylor, Ebony A. Utley, tobias c. van Veen, and Quentin VerCetty “This creative and courageous book is the flowering of black imagination and exploration into alternatives to the catastrophic realities of present-day black life. It is part of a great tradition of theory and praxis, thought and action rooted in concrete struggles for black freedom and black joy! As America and much of the world moves toward neo-fascism, Afro-futurism becomes more timely and powerful!” — Cornel West, Harvard University “Reynaldo Anderson and Clinton R. Fluker have continued a dynamic dance with Afrofuturism, bringing together the giants of the field in a single volume. The authors in this well-anchored volume are the best in the field. Each has made an outstanding contribution to Afrofuturism by rushing quickly into the future. I contend that The Black Speculative Arts Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design by virtue of its comprehensive and authorial nature will become the classic in the field.” — Molefi Kete Asante, Temple University, author of The History of Africa ABOUT THIS BOOK The Black Speculative Arts Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design is a 21st century statement on the intersection of the future of African people with art, culture, technology, and politics. This collection enters the global debate on the emerging field of Afrofuturism studies with an international array of scholars and artists contributing to the discussion of Black futurity in the 21st century. The contributors analyze and respond to the invisibility or mischaracterization of Black people in the popular imagination, in science fiction, and in philosophies of history. ABOUT THE EDITORS Reynaldo Anderson is associate professor of communications and chair of the Humanities Department at Harris-Stowe State University. Clinton R. Fluker is assistant director of engagement and scholarship at the Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library. Hardback: ebook:

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

The Universal African Women's Union's (UAWU/UAPO)

Annual Commemorative

Celebration of

The Million Women's

MARCH

The Million Woman March was a protest march organized on October 25, 1997, on the Benjamin Franklin Park Way in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Linda Kennedy, Shirley LeFlore, Mama Salama. In addition, five amazing women will be honored: Mama Cheeks, Mama Collette, Mama June, Mama Parry, Mama Veda This is a free event. Come join us in our celebration of these African women! ~Safiyah Chauvin

It drew hundreds of thousands—estimates range from 500,000 up to 2.1 million—of women to Philly, marching in solidarity from the Liberty Bell and to the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps. The march was founded and formulated by Phile Chionesu, a grassroots activist, human rights advocate, Black Nationalist/Freedom Fighter, and owner of an African crafts shop. She actually was not associated with any national black organizations. After several months of underground organizing, Dr Phile’, as she is lovingly called, asked Asia Coney to join her, making her the third National Co-Chair. The march was envisioned and intended to help bring social, political, and economic development and power throughout the black communities of the United States, as well as to bring hope, empowerment, unity and sisterhood to women, men and children of African descent globally regardless of nationality, religion, or economic status. The Universal African Women's Union (UAWU), the womens' wing of the Universal African Peoples Organization (UAPO) will be honoring five phenomenal women posthumously: Mama Aminata, Evelyn Chauvin,

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

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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!

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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.

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ART OF FOOD

Tis' the Season for

Parties and APPPETIZERS

ap·pe·tiz·er: a small dish of food or a drink taken before a meal or the main course of a meal to stimulate one's appetite. We all look foreward to the "holiday season" which starts around Thanksgiving and runs through New Year's. This means celebrations at work, with family/

friends, and places we frequent like barber/beauty shops. Many of these celebrations start (and sometimes end) with snack sized appetizers. These foods allow you to be mobile while eating and mingling. And most often are not messy, which means easy clean up and on to the next conversation. Here are a couple appetizers from Diva's Can Cook's Youtube page that you could bring to your next holiday celebration or incorporate into your own celebratory meal.

CHIPLOTLE/ LIME CHICKEN DRUMMETTES W/ AVOCADO SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

20 fresh chicken drumettes or wings ¼ cup mayonnaise CHIPOTLE SEASONING RUB 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1½ teaspoons chili powder (can more if desired) ½ teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon Old Bay w/ Blackening seasoning (optional, but yum!) 2 teaspoons chipotle powder (add more if you like heat) 1½ teaspoons garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder ¾ teaspoon paprika

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

ART OF FOOD... cont.

½ teaspoon cumin (can also add a bit of dried cilantro if desired) Juice of 1 lime Fresh cilantro, garnish AVOCADO SAUCE 1 avocado 5 Tablespoons sour cream 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced Juice of 1 lime salt and pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Brush wings with mayonnaise. 2. Mix together chipotle seasoning spices. 3. Sprinkle spice mixture generously over chicken. Use your hands to really work the spices into the chicken. 4. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. 5. Preheat oven to 450. 6. Arrange chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet brushed lightly with oil. 7. Bake for 20 minutes. 8. Drain off the juice. 9. Return chicken to oven and broil to crisp up the skin. Watch carefully, this only takes a few minutes. 10. Arrange chicken on a platter and garnish with fresh cut cilantro and the juice of 1 fresh lime. 11. Make the avocado sauce by pureeing avocado and sour cream. Add in cilantro, garlic and enough water to thin it out (if desired) puree until smooth. Stir in lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Saute peppers and onions until tender. 2. Place the peppers and onions into a large bowl. 3. Add in the black olives, cheddar cheese, turkey pepperoni, Italian croutons, and cooking creme. 4. Stir until combined. 5. Add in ground turkey and stir just until incorporated. 6. Prepare baking pans by lining them with nonstick foil. Oil the foil lightly if desired. 7. Roll out the meatballs to about 1.5 inches wide. 8. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. 9. Bake in a preheated, 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until browned. 10. Be careful not to over bake. 11. Let the meatballs cool slightly before removing them from the pan.

www.divascancook.com

STUFFED ITALIAN CHEESE & HERB MEATBALLS INGREDIENTS:

1 green bell pepper, finely diced 1 sweet red pepper, finely diced 1 small sweet onion, finely diced ¼ cup(s) of black olives, chopped 1 cup(s) of mild cheddar cheese, shredded ½ cup(s) of turkey pepperoni, chopped 2 cup(s) of Italian Croutons, crushed 10 ounce(s) of Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking

Creme 1 pound(s) of ground turkey

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

ART OF HEALING Your Ad or Article could be here!

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134

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

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

DID YOU KNOW??

NOVEMBER WAS NATIONAL

Diabetes

Awareness Month pg.

136

Diabetes Mellitus refers to a group of diseases that affect how your body uses sugar (glucose). Our bodies need glucose because it is a vital source of energy for our cells. And it is a main source of fuel for our brains. In some people, the sugar (glucose) levels in the blood is very high. Too much sugar in your blood can lead to serious health problems. Chronic, or long periods of high blood sugar are classified as follows: Type 1 Diabetes - Can develope at any age, but often appears during childhood Type 2 Diabetes - More common, can develope at any age, but common in people over 40 Other types of Diabetes are: Prediabetes - Higher than normal blood sugar levels, can lead to type 2 diabetes

•

Geography

Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabtes: • Weight (increased fatty tissue) • Inactivity • Family History • Race • Age • Gestational Diabetes • Polycystic Ovary Syndrome • High Blood Pressure • Abnormal Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels Risk Factors for Gestational Diabetes: • Age (over 25 yrs) • Family or Personal History • Weight (overweight before pregnancy) • Race Complications that could result from long-term diabetes are: • Cardiovascular Disease • Nerve Damage (Neuropathy) • Kidney Damage (Nephropathy) • Eye Damage (Retinopathy)

Gestational Diabetes - Hormones produced by the placenta during pregnancy make cells resistant to insulin. The pancreas does not create enough insulin to overcome this resistance. The result is too little glucose goes into the cells while too much stays in the blood.

• • • • •

Foot Damage Skin Conditions Hearing Impairment Alzheimer's Disease Depression

And complications of Gestational Diabetes are: Baby • Excess growth (large babies requiring c-section) • Low Blood Sugar • Type 2 Diabetes (later in life) Some signs/symptoms of diabetes are: • Increased thirst • Frequent urination • Extreme hunger • Unexplained weight loss Presence of ketones in the urine (ketones are a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fat that happens when there's not enough insuline available) • Fatigue • Irritability • Blurred Vision • Slow-healing sores • Frequent infections (gums, skin, vaginal)

Mother• Preeclampsia • Subsequent Gestational Diabetes Type 1 Diabetes can't be prevented, but healthy lifestyle choices prescribed as treatment for prediabetes can help prevent Type 2 Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes: • • •

Eat Healthy foods (low fat, high fiber) Increased Physical Activity Lose Excess Weight

As always, regular check-ups can assist with the diagnosis and treatment.

Risk Factors for Type 1 Diabetes: • Family History • Environmental Factors (viral illness) • Presence of Damaging Immune System Cells (autoantibodies)

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

African & African American Studies is proud to sponsor Atlantics, winner at the Cannes Film Festival, at the Saint Louis International Film Festival. The film will screen on Thursday, November 14 at the Tivoli Theatre. Showtime is 7:05pm. To purchase tickets, please visit: https://www.cinemastlouis.org/sliff/atlantics Atlantics, Senegalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s submission to the Academy Awards, is as story set in Dakar. A group of construction workers abandon their work on a sky-scraper in response to months of withheld wages. The group then seeks better opportunities as they take to the sea. At the heart of the narrative are lovers Suleiman and Ada who must contend with Ada's betrothal to another man. Department of African & African-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis | One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1109, St. Louis, MO 63130

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

“Art Is Labor,” an exhibit

that speaks of the workers of our time and recognizes artists as workers, will open December 7, 2019, with a cocktail reception honoring life-long social justice championsPercy Green and Jamala Rogers.

This juried exhibit is presented by Bread and Roses Missouri in partnership with Webster University’s Arcade Contemporary Projects Gallery.

Dail Chambers, multi-disciplinary artist and consultant, curates the exhibit. Ms. Chambers is known nationally for her work which responds to history, struggle issues, ancestor mythology, and imagines wholism as a creative future. Contemporary artwork will be curated alongside collections of historically significant art, ephemera, text, and artifacts. Artwork created by young people who participate in the Bread and Roses Youth Initiative will also be featured.

"ART IS A FORM OF ACTIVISM IN TODAY'S CULTURE. ART IS WHAT KEEPS YOUR SPIRITUALITY VITAL...THE POEM, ALTHOUGH YOU'RE NOT IN THE STREETS MARCHING, YOU ARE EXPRESSING AN ATTITUDE OF LIFE".

Mission Statement: Bread & Roses Missouri uses an arts lens to examine social and economic justice issues in all our programming. We believe that cultural and creative expression are a means to affect deep and lasting social change. We organize and participate in arts and humanities events, exhibits, and workshops for and about workers and their families that address the root causes of poverty and inequality and move us toward an economic base that benefits the entire community.

MICHAEL CASTRO 1945 - 2018 POET LAUREATE OF ST. LOUIS

If you are interested in getting involved with Bread and Roses, please email Joan Suarez or call 314.422.7389.

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December 7, 2019

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

Book Review

Ishmael Reed's MORAL Compass · Airing Dirty Laundry (1993)

Reed, Ishmael. Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico. Montreal : Baraka Books, 2019.

· Another Day at the Front (2003) · Blues City, a Walk in Oakland (2003)

Many American thinkers have tried , by way of philosophical essays, jeremiads, reflections on habits of the heart and soul, provocative manifestos, and open letters, to improve our nation’s debatable social contracts and fragile moral compass. Indigenous victims of imperial genocide,

enslaved persons and slavery’ s enemies; poets and writer of many colors; advocates for equity, human rights, and social justice; clergymen and clergywomen and a small number of elected officials---all of them , the dreamers and the doers have participated in moral and ethical warfare. Fighting. Since the mid-twentieth century, Ishmael Reed has been deep, abrasive, and didactic, an iconoclastic champion of what is “good” and a formidable critic of what is “bad” in domestic and transnational affairs. Reed is a fighter , a battered but undefeated fighter. Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico is a compelling record of his place in literary histories and moral struggles. It is a feast one consumes with grains of pepper and salt. How does a reviewer observe due diligence in commenting on Reed’s life and multiple achievements? One notes how apt is Wendy Hayes-Jones’s notion that Reed is an “erudite pugilist punching out rounds of words interlaced with the bookish military strategist planning his next move to outwit the enemy” [[ See “Ishmael Reed: Fifty-Eight Years of Boxing on Paper.”On the Aesthetic Legacy of Ishmael Reed. Ed. Sami Ludwig. Hamilton Beach, CA: World Parade Books, 2012: 14-27 ]] How does one make a fair but trenchant evaluation of a conscientious sorcerer, a Neo-Hoodoo priest, an iconoclast whom certain feminists crucify as hyper-masculine (toxic) misogyny personified? How does one coordinate his depictions of American and world histories with his unique logic and calling out of our nation’s hubris, yearning to be fascist, and uses of imperial desires? It is a daunting task to account for Reed’s fiction (expanded by drama, music, and film) and non-fiction from 1968 (Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down) to 2019 (the most recent collection of essays and journalism)? Several book-length studies of Reed offer clues about the required thinking, but actual assessment is a dim glow in a tunnel of a future. Background and underground work must be done. If one had world enough and time, it would be ideal to measure Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico against a chronological re-reading of · Shrovetide in Old New Orleans (1978) · God Made Alaska for the Indians (1982) · Writin’ Is Fightin’ (1988)

pg.

· Mixing It Up: Taking on the Media Bullies and Other Reflections (2008) · Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the Nigger Beakers (2010) · Going Too Far: Essays about America’s Nervous Breakdown (2012) Sufficient world and time are hard to come by. One must improvise, hoping that one’s grasp of Reed’s moral compass is accurate. American cultural literacy has reached a nadir, understanding rhetoric has grown impotent, and the probability of anxious misreading is enormous. Reed is not an anachronism. His moral compass ensures that we will be tutored by his ethical discourses, his testimony about and indictment of the American people in Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico. He is a prefuture sage who speaks to us with the authority of an Old Testament prophet. Fame has given Reed a few material rewards, but the reward he most deserves is knowing, within his lifetime, that his uncanny intelligence succeeded in making the divided peoples of the United States a bit more honest about who and what they are. Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico is a relentless mirror that forces us to gaze upon ourselves in 2019 and to ponder that the absence of Confederate statues in Mexico highlights the inerasable presence of those statues in our fights with revitalized racism and white supremacy, with the fact that the American Confederacy lives in a Brazilian town [[see https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gq8ae9/ welcome-to-americana-brazil-0000580-v22n2 ]] We cannot excuse ourselves from our histories with the bad faith of post-whatever ideologies so assiduously cultivated b the super-rich and hegemonic international cartels. Reed’s essays compel us o deal with 1) our land of fluid identities ,2) culture in general --especially to what Reed contends is the brilliant performance and bad history of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, 3) politics or the tragedy and travesty of government and the rule of law, and 4) culture as a theatrical. Reed makes good use of his stern journalism and moral compass to remind us again and once more again that the historically situated insights of David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, W. E. B. DuBois, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Angela Davis, Toni Morrison, Michelle Alexander, Tommy J. Curry and other moralists who compete for our attention are as crucial, as necessary as air. At end of decoding Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico, reader will either absorb the lessons with gratitude or reject them with howls

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

ISHMAEL REED... cont.

of execration. Reed does not pander; he challenges us to maximize our critical thinking to discriminate among what he gets right, what he get half-right, and what he gets wrong. His new essays are solid in their depiction of what Simon de Beauvoir brilliantly named the ethics of ambiguity. Only the most perverse readers can fail to profit from the sweeping motions of Reed’s moral compass. And most readers, I suspect , will get the point of so typical an assertion as The latest shedding of light on the “tangle of pathologies” in the white community is to be encouraged. Better late than never. Maybe no longer will the white community be treated as Lake Wobegon, with the black community as a sort of waste disposal across the tracks for the country’s social problems” (265). This assertion ought to guide us in understanding that none of our ethnic communities are free of pathologies. We are all ---yellow, black, brown, white and red -- afflicted with pathologies, and our most prudent course of action is to perpetually write and fight for the uncertain remedies that may in time future provide reasonable or rational or pragmatic cures for our human conditions. As a coda for my improvised ideas, I have offered APPENDIX A, the specification of my terms of engagement, my regard for Ishmael Reed’s moral compass.

“cross-cultural contexts.” We need to know the nature of borders (both geographic and metaphorical) prior to destroying them. The wording “cross-cultural” implies, for me at least, that the foreignness of culture A has been distinguished from the foreignness or strangeness of culture B. If we are not in possession of such distinctions, we fail to notice that we can be foreign (strange, dissimilar, marginal) in our “home” cultures; recognition of that possibility is crucial. How easily we can fall into the trap of believing that our culture and its artifacts are superior to the culture and artifacts of the “other,” especially when “we” and “the other” share the same citizenship. Recognition of a problem that is at once cross-cultural and multicultural led to the publication in 1990 of Redefining American Literary History by the prestigious Modern Language Association. Those of us who produced that book found a theoretical model in the groundbreaking work of Ishmael Reed,

~Jerry W. Ward, Jr. December 18, 2019

even if we did not say as much at that time. We did say that our redefining project eschewed “traditional, patriarchal thought APPENDIX A --from my book The China Lectures: African American Literary and Critical Issues (2014). Available only in China, the lectures are my modest gifts to Chinese people who have given me moments of happiness and enlightenment. Ishmael Reed and the Idea of Multiculturalism

about culture and literature” and sought “instead explanatory models that account for the multiple voices and experiences that constitute the literature and literary history of the United States”(4).

We may agree that the concept of multiculturalism is concerned with one of several ways we have chosen to talk about how human beings live together.

The most basic meaning of

“multiculturalism” refers to conditions of existence in a defined space (nation or territory) that is inhabited by people who have and identify with different cultural assumptions, beliefs and practices. Our discussions of multiculturalism often borrow ideas from the discipline of anthropology. If we have been trained to study literature rather than the subject matter of various social science, we need to be cautious. Good critical thinking demands that we first examine de facto (actual,

Failure to minimize disciplinary prejudices tends to defeat our objective of acquiring new knowledge. It would be a mistake, for example, to ignore the hidden dimensions of differences that have obtained historically in the evolving of American literature before making a dash to find the significant differences among a range of literatures written in some variety of English, in some variety of other languages. In the case of American literature, we can gain insights about multiculturalism as a combative process from a brief review of what Ishmael Reed has been working at for almost half a century.

operative) conditions of the multicultural in tandem with de

Among contemporary American writers, Ishmael Reed is the

jure (abstract, legal) conditions. I think it is wise and prudent

major “informal” theorist and “pragmatic” proponent of late

to identify the multicultural behaviours that obtain in our own

20th –century and early 21st-century “literary” multiculturalism

countries before we produce ideas about the multicultural in

in the United States of America. Since the early nineteenth

pg.

146

century, America has embraced political myths of “one

Reed is not an anachronism. He is a writer who provokes us into

nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” to minimize

seeing what multiculturalism might be and why it is so often

recognition of its multiethnic and multicultural identity. Reed

attacked

has effectively challenged the validity of those myths by action that goes beyond “deconstructing.” He has consistently “constructed,” by way of his provocative essays, anthologies, and fiction, a rationale to maximize acknowledgement of the

Reed’s evolving theory began with his assaults on restrictive monoculturalism associated with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. In his December 1969 introduction for 19 Necromancers From Now, Reed proclaimed

interactive presence of multiculturalism in the literary and social evolution of America. My comments quite briefly address what might be designated Reed’s “combative conversation” with his nation. Reed’s anthologies ---- 19 Necromancers From Now: An Anthology of Original American Writing For the 1970s (1970), Calafia: The California Poetry (1979), MultiAmerica: Essays on Cultural Wars and Cultural Peace (1997), From Totems to HipHop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002 (2003), and Pow Wow: Charting the Fault Lines in the

Perhaps at the roots of American art is a rivalry between the oppressor and the oppressed, with a secret understanding that the oppressor shall always prevail and make off with the prizes, no matter how inferior his art to that of his victims. Art in America may even be related to sexual competition. In the beginning was The Word and The Word is the domain of White patriarchy. Beware. Women and natives are not to tamper with The Word. (xix)

American Experience –Short Fiction from Then to Now (2009)

After much autobiographical testimony about America, Reed

-----provide subject matter as well as evidence for open-ended

admitted that he “omitted White writers.” Having examined

debate regarding theory and praxis of “literary” multiculturalism

“the many exclusionary American anthologies that flood the

in American and global contexts. Reed’s introductions contain

market, I somehow feel that they will get by” (xxiii). With a

the theory; the works he selected for each anthology illustrate

slip of contradiction, he wrote “Indian People, Black People,

the praxis.

White People, Chinese People, and Blue People unravel their

Reed opens a recent collection of writing, Going Too Far: Essays about America’s Nervous Breakdown , with two sentences that

experiences through its [the anthology’s] pages”(xxiv). At this stage of theory-making, Reed was himself exclusionary.

fundamentally establish his place in the history of black writing

He was feeling his way into multiculturalism. By January 22,

since the 1960s:

1978, the date of his preface to Calafia: The California Poetry,

When they tell me “don’t go there” that’s my signal to navigate the forbidden topics of American life. Just as the ex-slaves were able to challenge the prevailing attitudes about race in the United States after arriving in Canada, I am able to argue from Quebec against ordained opinion that paints the United States as a place where the old sins of racism have been vanquished and that those who insist that much work remains to be done are involved in “Old Fights,” as one of my young critics, John McWhorter, claims in articles in Commentary and The New Republic, where I am dismissed as an out of touch “fading anachronism.” Copyright © 2017 - All rights reserved.

he had arrived at a more mature idea of multiculturalism and how to represent it. He provides a quite “breezy” historical account of California as “the home of the multi-cultures,” the physically and linguistically different indigenous peoples, the Spanish, the Mexicans, the blacks and, since the 1840s, Asian immigrants. To reflect all this mixing, tense state of difference, and cross-fertilization in poetry, Reed brought “together the poetry of different California cultures under one roof” without segregating “those cultures according to ‘race,’ ‘nation,’ or chronology. The erasing of categories makes it appear that poetry, in the words of Simon Ortiz, is “an all-inclusive singular

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Volume 5.12 December 31, 2019

ISHMAEL REED... cont.

event and idea throughout time” (xlii). Imitating, I suspect, the

strident provocation. From Totems to Hip Hop is constructed

practice of authenticating early autobiographical narratives of

as a textbook of multicultural poetry. Reed gives much more

enslaved people in America, the book has introductions by Bob

attention to consequences of teaching multicultural literature

Callahan, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Simon Ortiz, Shawn Hsu Wong,

and to the status of universal themes in his October 23, 2002

Wakako Yamauchi, and Al Young to give multiethnic credibility

introduction. At the core of his Cinco de Mayo 2008 introduction

to the multicultural enterprise.

to Pow Wow is a concession germane to thinking about cross-

Reed’s speculations about multiculturalism take an instructive

cultural contexts, because Reed asserts that

turn in his introduction to MultiAmerica. He was dealing

Deprived of or excluded from the normal channels of

with the essay, a genre that contrasts with either poetry or

communication by media increasingly monopolized by a few

fiction; collecting essays facilitated a turn from multicultural

companies, people from diverse background and from different

expression as “proofs” to multicultural expression as an array

time periods may have no other means but writing to engage

of “weapons” to deploy in battle with American mass media’s

in a cross-cultural or a cross-time dialogue with one another.

efforts to promote monocultural thought, even as it gave

No other means to comment on the important issues both

lukewarm recognition to cultural diversity or cultural difference.

historical and current: war, slavery, race, anti-Semitism, gender,

Reed was fighting the persistence of the binary (the black and

class, dysfunctional family life, and the like (xi).

white characterization of American society) and highlighting

A few pages later, he reiterates:

essays by writers of many ethnicities to put “race” in its place and offer the American public alternative articulations, newer diverging and converging perspectives on the drama of being American. Reed recognized multiculturalism is “safe” between the covers of a book but often dangerous and threatening outside the book. The anthology was to some degree Reed assured us “an intellectual anti-trust action against the tyranny that communications oligopolies hold over public discussion”,

Excluded from media power, American Indian, Hispanic, Asian American, and African American writers often use fiction to tell their side of the American story and to explore the fault lines that separate groups from one another. In the media it is left to outsiders to define members of ethnic groups, often with disastrous results like Birth of a Nation and the television series The Wire (xiii).

an action conducted by writers “concerned about the future

I sense that Reed has given us an important lesson about

of the United State in which one ‘race’ or ethnic group is no

power in his introductions, that he warns us to exercise

longer dominant and where the pressures to assimilate are

caution in how we go about engaging “multiculturalism” as

not as demanding as they were in a former time “(xxvii). Such

conditions of existence in a defined space (nation or territory)

multicultural battle still continues, sponsoring optimism and

that is inhabited by people who have and identify with different

pessimism, or the branching of multicultural speculations we

cultural assumptions, beliefs and practices. Scholars are never

find in Reed’s introductions for From Totems to Hip-Hop and

exactly “outside” that space nor immune to its conditions.

Pow Wow. WORKS CITED

The introductions to these recent multicultural experiments are less combative in tone, less devoted to speculation than to application. Their nuances call for very close reading. The shift

Reed, Ishmael, ed. Calafia: The California Poetry. Berkeley, CA: Y’Bird Books, 1979. Print.

is a warning about limits, about how radical discourses may get

____________. From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2003. Print.

transformed over time into persuasive gestures and lose a bit of

___________., Going Too Far: Essays about America’s Nervous Breakdown

pg.

148

Montreal: Baraka Books 2012. Print. ___________. MultiAmerica: Essays on Cultural Wars and Cultural Peace. New York: Viking Penguin, 1997. Print.

___________. 19 Necromancers From Now: An Anthology of Original American Writing For the 1970s. Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1970. Print.

___________, ed. with Carla Blank. Pow Wow: Charting the Fault Lines in the American Experience ---Short Fiction from Then to Now. Philadelphia: DaCapo Press, 2009. Print. Ruoff, A. LaVonne Brown and Jerry W. Ward, Jr., eds. Redefining American Literary History. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1990. Print.

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? S/Hero

Know an Unsung Human Rights

The St. Louis Coalition for Human Rights is opening up its nominations for unsung human rights sheroes and heroes in the Metro Saint Louis area. These protectors of human rights will be recognized at the annual Human Rights Celebration on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 7:00 pm. The program is hosted by the Missouri History Museum.The nomination deadline is November 30.

Nomination Form

Independent Lense

Now at Independent Lense

OBS held the St. Louis premiere screening on Decade on Fire at our African Liberation Day/Malcolm X Celebration this year. Vivian Vasquez (the Bronx) joined the post-screening discussion. The award-winning film has made its way to PBS and Independent Lens. It is a powerful piece of work.

Watch Now

Organization for Black Struggle PO Box 5277 St. Louis,Â MOÂ 63115

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