Arts today 5.2

Vol 5.2

May 28, 2018

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BEN

AGBEE Featured Artist pg #62

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OPERA THEATRE 2019 FESTIVAL REPERTOIRE pg #44

View this and past issues from our website.

STL

50 IS THE NEW...

LEGACY AND ...

DO WE REALLY...

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pg. #12

pg.#36

SANDRA ROBERTS

JERRY WARD

PIERE BLAINE

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

IN THIS

ISSUE:

6

8

IN THE NEWS We Grow...

16 50 IS THE NEW RETIREMENT SANDRA ROBERTS

44

36

LIVE / WORK / PLAY NATE JOHNSON

OP/ED SECTION INFINITE SCHOLARS

86

62 FEATURED ARTIST BEN AGBEE

DO WE REALLY BELIEVE IN AMERICA? PIERRE BLAINE

FEATURED POET &...

SUSAN "SPITFIRE" LIVELY

2019 FESTIVAL SEASON REPERTOIR OPERA THEATRE STL

...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...

110

96

23

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)

BEHIND THE EVIL VEIL...

DR. MALAIKA HORNE

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER MARK MURPHY III

Established 2014 Volume 5.2 St. Louis, MO www.the-arts-today.com/ Layout/Design www.bdesignme.com

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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.

Copyright © 2017 - All rights reserved.

COPYRIGHT:

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.

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

IN THE NEWS

Your Source for Art Appreciation

Volume 2.1 March 4, 2015

St. Louis

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

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE ART OF FOOD | LENA JACKSON....................................................... pg. 124 A SLEEPING SILENT CITY | BERNIE HAYES ................................. pg. 142

Please support our sponsors, many of-

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

OPPORTUNITIES | A.T.EZ .................................................................... pg. 152 CAREERS | A.T.EZ ................................................................................... pg. 154

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.

#ArtsTodayEZ

Contact John Hensley to schedule.

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Volume 5.25.2 Volume May 28, 2018 May 28, 2018

50 is the

New

Y

ou know, I’m beginning to think that 50 is the new retirement.

Particularly for those of us who refuse to bite our tongues or pretend to go along to get along on jobs! Regardless of how much longer many of us live or how much better we look, working until our mid-sixties just might be a thing of the past! Instead of working for someone else, maybe it’s our time to prepare for REINVENTION

seen and heard a lot! No! we are not perfect. Old and lazy fools do exist!

LOL! However, as a highly trained and qualified professional and life-learner with thirty years of work experience, I am not interested in coddling the insecurities and inadequacies of young professionals while they are paid to lead and manage employees. I have played many positions, earned multiple degrees, attended tons of trainings, worked in all types of environments, served all kinds of bosses and even performed in leadership roles myself.

Needless to say, I may come off as challenging and intimidating, but not to an effective, qualified leader with management finesse and confidence.

By the 50th mark, it is time to volunteer, mentor or work for your damn self! I find the closer I get to 50,

instead of retirement. Yes!

Overall, EXPERIENCE usually equips us with hindsight and 20/20 vision when it comes to people, places and problems. Unfortunately, working under those with minimum experience and shallow wisdom is like watching a brand new driver take the steering wheel, and putting the livelihoods of all her passengers in danger. The younger and inexperienced driver has read all of the latest driving books, attended the most popular drivers conferences/

the harder it is to respect ill-prepared or premature young professionals in leadership positions.

And it is not from a disrespectful, insubordinate or defiant space! I actually prefer STRONG AND ORGANIZED leadership… as loooooong as it is FAIR AND CONSISTENT!!!! I am all about following and respecting procedures and policies. It’s just, around the 50th mark, most of us have pg.

Retirement

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workshops and earned the required driver ed degrees. However, the young driver thinks mainly about the power behind the wheel, the excitement of driving for the first time or the final destination. The experienced driver, on the other hand, has already navigated the traffic jams, police stops, speed bumps and road detours.

And since brutal honesty can sometimes outweigh polite filters when spewed out the mouths of those in the 50+ club, experienced drivers might appear less patient. They nag and shout warnings, directions and shortcuts from their passenger side or back seat! And who likes a backseat or passenger side driver while they’re steering the wheel? Yet, when has there ever been too many eyes watching the road? Moreover, what’s competitive about people riding in the same car and arriving at the same place? Why not take the advice of a traveler with more mileage? Chances are, ” They have already been where you’re trying to go”!

Sandra A. Roberts Blog: www.sangoddesspeaks.com Instagram: @sangoddesspeaks Website: Booksinourimage.com

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LEGACY “

AND PRAGMATIC APPLICATION The youth of old age ordains finality/ the judicious dessert of living.

R

umor is most dangerous in the Age of Trumposity. “If the leaders of the industry that presides over our information and hopes to shape our future can’t even concede the existence of reality,” Franklin Foer wrote with razor-clean irony in the May 2018 issue of The Atlantic, “then we have little hope of salvaging it.” Irony notwithstanding, Foer is on point is arguing that in a future that is always a present “few individuals will have the time or perhaps the capacity to sort elaborate fabulation from truth” (18). Just listen to how American citizens talk at one another, using technologies that enable us to delude ourselves that we are well-informed about everything.

The surplus of information, especially in social media, stymies genuine thinking. Perhaps our best option is to use our ancestral legacies to retard such flooding. The task isn’t easy, but it is doable.

The youth of old age intensifies my belief that we should push back against the dangerous nonsense of the twenty-first century in our nation and resist erosions of humanity. The ancestral legacy of Dr. Margaret Walker can serve us well. Thus, I vowed to speak briefly about her ideas regarding history, life, and culture at the 12th annual Creative Arts Festival at Jackson State University (April 13, 2018).

Margaret Walker

I remembered her insights about the necessity of incorporating Black Studies in the academy; her achievement in organizing the now legendary Phillis Wheatley Festival; her prophetic vision in establishing a viable research institute at Jackson State University. Her poetry ----the best of it ---is but one manifestation of how a creative mind works, of how it submits itself to a discipline of form as it pushes back against the trite, the trivial and the tragic which inhabit the domain of content. The best of her poetic legacy may not be left to us as verse; it may be something much beyond the powerful lyric “For My People.” Her legacy may be ours to (re)cover and (re)sound from her journal entries, her letters, speeches and essays, her conversations in interviews. She cast down her bucket where she was and left us an institution that might prevail. Her imperatives are not imprisoned in time.

When Margaret Walker wanted to know what needed to be known about history, she spent four decades in researching and writing the novel Jubilee.

When she wanted to find the meaning of her life and the lives of others , she experimented with combining science, social science, and humanities , combining the habits of mind that allow us to make provisional sense of things in This Is My Century.

When she wanted to inform us about the world class status of Richard Wright, she wrote Daemonic Genius, a generic intersection of biography and autobiography.

”

ways evolving and primal synthesis of African American cultures and on the dimensions of creative expressiveness that braids the political, the aesthetic, and the pragmatic in her signature poem “For My People.” She lectured about the essence of what must be known in the twenty-first century: “For the most part our people have been gullible and believed the half-lies and the half-truths denying our blackness and wishfully affirming their whiteness by seeking to become carbon copies of white people. But the fact remains that we are living in a multiracial world in which there are varying cultures, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic or political systems, and whether we like or dislike it, our children must be educated to live in such a world. They must learn to live in a world that is four-fifths colored, nine-tenths poor, and, in most cases, neither Christian in religion nor democratic in ideals.” [ From the essay “Religion, Poetry, and History: Foundations for a New Educational System,” first published in Vital Speeches of the Day 34.24 (October 1, 1968) ].

Fifty years ago, Margaret Walker knew what the Tribe of Trump in 2018 is helping people who believe they have no color recognize in the ambience of sorrow and the maximum dislocation of synthetic chaos.

Once when she and I were having a conversation about Richard Wright, she said in her unique voice that the most important thing about a writer is her or his ideas. I (re) sound that bit of wisdom in my own devising of terms of engagement and in my cynical thinking about how empty and ego-afflicted are our everyday conversations.

Using Margaret Walker’s legacy in the service of pragmatic action is one option for resisting. It is not a sinecure. It is not a solution for problems that evade solution. It is merely a reasonable act of self-defense. For those who would be teachers of one sort or another, reading Howard Rambsy II’s mind-opening posts for Culturalfront.org and the daily blogs from the African American Intellectual History Society is useful. These sources provide ammunition. It is common sense to accord no credibility to the reprehensible antics of televised “news,” the fantasies that ebb and flow in print media, or the ubiquitous “magic” of the Internet. Despite their unavoidable limits, cultural analytics and empirical aesthetics serve us well in the combat zones of being.

Let us remind ourselves and our children 24/7/365 that when Margaret Walker wrote in the final stanza of “For My People”

Let a new earth rise…Let the martial songs be written, let the dirges disappear. Let a race of men now rise and take control. she was not addressing passengers in a ship of fools. ~ Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

When she wanted to deal with culture(s), she focused on the al-

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OP / ED SECTION

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.

A

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

PERSPECTIVE:

Right

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

now it might do us some good to call upon our ancestors for wisdom, strength and guidance. Our foremothers

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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 5.2 May 28, 2018

LIVE WORK PLAY

Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018 St. Louis

e have finally kicked off festival season W in St. Louis and I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it! Fennel Hudson said that May,

more than any month of the year, wants us to feel alive. I agree with that statement, and my beloved St. Louis is offering many ways for us to enjoy life and live local! The New York Times recently wrote an article titled "St. Louis Is as Welcoming as It Is Budget-Friendly". Yes, St. Louis is an affordable market, not only for real estate, but for entertainment as well. I hope that you will join me in getting out and making it a great month!

MAY

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Local Events

If you are looking for something to do tonight, how about checking out the Building the Future Celebration at the opening of the 2018 MFA Thesis Exhibition!! Let’s celebrate a new generation of artists and the upcoming expansion of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at the Building the Future Party. Also, DJ Agile One will be on the turntables, and this is the last opening reception before the museum closes for its spectacular expansion!

MAY

You might also want to stop by Parker’s Table for Maker’s Marque where you can peruse and purchase inspired jewelry, ceramics, fashion, printmaking, and art made by St. Louis artisans.

The best is yet to come with David Giuntoli as he presents “We’ve got a world that swings” at the Kranzberg Art Center, featuring the songs of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Mel Torme and many other cool cats that make it swing.

Tomorrow, aka Saturday, you can join me at Cinco De Mayo: A Cherokee Street Festival , which happens to be one of my top 3 festivals in St. Louis, and you know I love a good festival! This one has evolved into one of the largest and most diverse festivals in the St. Louis area. Enjoy great music, food, drink, and people!

You might also want to swing by theSt. Louis Microfest to enjoy beer tasting from several local breweries. They also have live music and fun events to keep you entertained as well.

Of course Saturday also brings us the Kentucky Derby, and you can check out Cinco de Derby at the Atomic Cowboy and will feature the Funky Butt Brass Band!

stage at The Dark Room in Grand Center.

On Sunday May 6 , help carry on a new tradition and join me in checking out a day full of different types of live music starting with the second annual STL Porch Fest, a selfguided music festival! With over 20 bands on over 10 porches, this event will feature a variety of musical styles held in my beloved Skinker- Debaliviere Neighborhood. This event is completely free but the bands do appreciate tips! th

You can also join me in enjoying an afternoon of art, crafts, music, food, & family fun at ArtFest in Richmond Heights. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to stroll the Parkway to appreciate and support local artists.

Later in the evening, you can check out Circus Flora as they present the Case of the Missing Bellhop.

If you are looking for jazz on Saturday night, check out my man, Ptah Williams - one of the best jazz pianist’s that you’ll see. He will be blessing the

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LIVE WORK PLAY

Twilight Tuesday’s, the Missouri History Museum’s free outdoor concert series welcomes Javier Mendoza to the stage at the museum in Forest Park!

Also on Tuesday, you might want to check out Beth Bombara who has a folksinger’s head and a rocker’s heart, and blurs the lines musically. She will be on stage at KDHX: Live From the Listening Room.

You might not want to miss an opportunity to experience The Remedy - open mic poetry at the Legendary Palomino Lounge in the Delmar Loop.

Stellaaaaaaa, head over to the Grandel Theater on Thursday May 10th to check out A Streetcar Named Desire as part of the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis. Also on Thursday night, what happens when you mix EDM and a Toga Party? I’m not sure but I can’t wait to find out at the FREedm Toga Party at 2720 Cherokee Street.

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For Friday May 11th, you might want to start off the evening with Sauce Magazine’s Food Truck Friday in Tower Grove Park. While you’re in the neighborhood, check out the Grapes in the Garden at the beautiful Missouri Botanical Garden where you’ll taste over 250 different types of wine while enjoying live music. Of course, if you do tase all of that wine, please don’t drive. Because afterwards, The Contemporary Art Museum also has the opening of their Summer Exhibitions. Maybe afterwards you’ll want to check the vocal talents of Leslie Sanazaro and the guitar styling of Jeremy Segel-Moss at Yaqui’s on Cherokee Street.

On Saturday May 12th, grab the kiddos and head over to Eckert’s for the Strawberry Festival where you’ll find food, live entertainment, pony rides, children’s play area, petting farm, carnival rides, and I hear there might be strawberries. You may also want to stop by the Saint Louis Science Center for SciFest: Tornado Alley where local experts explain certain weather phenomena. While you’re there you could also check out there exhibit Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission. If you are looking for another festival (and who isn’t), you can head over to downtown Kirkwood for Mayfest where you will be greeted by live music, food, farmers market, Artists in Bloom, dancers and more!

If you are interested in a nice bike ride, you can join my fellow board members at Trailnet for a 40 mile community ride to Creve Coeur Lake and back starting from Urban Chestnut’s Midtown Brewery and Biergarten. You’ll return in time for... wait for it.. Another festival! This time , UCBC’s 2018 Maifest which features Bock Biers, Specialty Casks and limited edition URB beers in addition to live local music and BBQ! All riders will receive one beer/food coupon to use at the fest.

For a different flavor on Saturday, The Pageant will be welcoming the smooth jazz styling of Brian Culbertson, and also on Saturday night, STL Free Jazz Collective will be delighting the crowd at the 14th Street Artist Commununity.

Sunday May 13th is Mother’s day so you might want to bring your mother to the Gateway Arch Sunday Brunch Cruise for a relaxing Mother’s day. This is a perfect family event that is welcome to all ages. Of course, there is also the Art Fair at Laumeier which promises over a 150 different artists work and a great time complete with some more live music.

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LIVE WORK PLAY

On Wednesday the 16th, I will be in D.C. protecting private property rights at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Conference, but if I was here, you would find me at the Ready Room checking out the Tune-Yards. Oh, how I would to love to see them perform Water Fountain live! On Thursday, Big Boi, half of the Outkast duo will be blessing the stage.

Enjoy a tasty variety of food at the 10th Taste of South Grand on Thursday, the 17th. Twenty well known restaurants from the South Grand area will be providing food, drinks, and desserts.

Friday May 18th there will be yet another festival for different types of beers known as the Fest-of-Ale will be taking place on at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Hopefully you will still feel ok the next day on Saturday May 19th so you can be apart of the final Battlegrounds Mud Run. You can do either a 5k or a 5 mile course depending on your preference or maybe you just want to go to watch!

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Perhaps a chill and laid back festival is what you have in mind for Sunday. If so, how about a relaxing stroll to the Art on the Square festival in Belleville for a calming day of aesthetically pleasing art.

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

LIVE WORK PLAY

On Monday, the 21st I’ll be in Pennsylvania instructing a course for REALTORS about Smart Growth and how we build our communities in a sustainable way. However, if I was here in my beloved St. Louis, I would be with the the Dirty Projectors at the Ready Room. Their song Two Doves is a classic to me, and although Bjork will not be there, their collaboration on All We Are is just breathtaking.

If you are wanting to start your weekend a little early you could stop by Kiener Plaza for their Kiener Cocktails Happy Hour on Thursday May 24th.

On Friday, the 25th If you like to appreciate art while indulging in delicious locally brewed beer then you could join me at the the Schlafly Art Outside Festival. This will be held at their Schlafly Bottleworks location in Maplewood on Friday May 25th and continues through the weekend. Kaskade will be on the ones and twos for a DJ set at Ryse nightclub in St. Charles.

On Saturday, the 26th, the St. Louis African Arts Festival , another great St. Louis festival kicks off to celebrate African culture. There will be plenty of performing arts,great live music, food, and drinks not to mention there will be some incredible history being shared as well.

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You could also take the kids to Raging Rivers for their opening weekend.

The last day of the St. Louis County Greek Festival is on Sunday, where you can enjoy some great food and Greek culture.

Monday is Memorial Day, so let’s not forget to honor those in the armed forces who have sacrificed their lives while protecting our freedom.

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What an amazing month we have ahead in St. Louis! I’m looking forward to seeing you out and about.

All the best. -Nate P.S. Here is the latest Housing Report for your review. Median sales prices are up 3.7% from March of last year. Inventory continues to be low, which is good for our clients who are selling homes, but a bit more of a task for our clients who are buying homes. However, we are up for the challenge! Let me know if you have any questions.

Nate K. Johnson ABR,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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Available -

FEBRUARY 2018

on lulu.com and Amazon.com pg.

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

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

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

TEN

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

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

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

Do we really BELIEVE in

America?

The short answer is no we do not. We don’t believe that we can change the country for the better. Isn’t that what apathy is? My vote does not count.

T

hat was the clarion call in the Last Presidential Election in the U.S. in 2016. Second, some of us were overwhelmed by “Fake News”.

If your only source of information is your cell phone on social media, it will be easy for you to get duped with “Fake News”. It means you have to work at democracy and if you allow yourself to be uneducated in general and on issues that matter in elections – you will be Trumped. If you do not know what that looks like just turn on any news except Fox News and it will help you understand what Trumped means. The only way that the faction of voters win that supported Trump, is that we get confused, do not vote or accept “Fake News” as though it is real. They win when we do not all come together and to the extent that we allow what unites us to divide us – we get Trumped into - Keep America Great.

We are at the crossroads of putting in place the Census headed toward the 2020 Census in America.

Why do you think that the Administration wants to add a question about your citizenship in the Census questions? A number of lawsuits are challenging the question, indicating that the question has the potential of retarding individuals from participating in the census. What is at stake is the undercounting of African-Americans and immigrants which may have negative impacts on counting the number of individuals in America. The Department of Justice is saying that they need to ask the question so they can implement the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Department of Justice is concerned about having an accurate calculation of the voting age populations in areas where there has been voting rights violations.

Unfortunately, that concern by the Justice Department is “Fake Concern” – republicans have used the Supreme Court of the United States to validate the pg.

21st Century version of voter suppression.

The Supreme Court in Shelby Counter v. Holder decided 5-4 that the policy of preclearance was unconstitutional which was put into the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to prevent exactly what the republicans are saying that they are now trying to protect. Congress just recently had the Justice Department report to them on the question, and the Justice Department made clear that they intend to enforce the Voting Rights Act and that the census question on citizenship cannot be shared and people answering the question will not be harmed. Is it an accident that this confusion is being put in place now right before the Mid-Term Elections and the 2020 Presidential Election?

History is repeating itself and if we allow it to happen we are responsible for what happens going forward in America. Dr. King explained it in his ‘How Long, Not Long’ speech – delivered at the conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March at the state capitol of Montgomery, Alabama on March 25, 1965. He said: ‘the powers that be were dividing the whites from the blacks so they would not formulate a voting bloc.

He advised you not enemies – you are allies. The republicans are running the same playbook that they ran at the end of the 19th Century in the 21st century.

The question is when are we going to learn?

~ Pierre Blaine

Pierre Blaine is the author of Movement: Race, Power and Culture in America Available on Amazon.com and the Mo. History Museum.

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

IPHF Cuba Photographic Trip

A Presentation with Stewart Halperin and Jeff Hirsch Saturday, May 19th, 2018 1:30pm - 2:30pm International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum

Interview with Lewis DIUGUID: Award-Winning Journalist Uses Example of Father to Encourage Today’s Men

There is much discussion today about ways to stem the downward spiral of young African American men. Veteran journalist, Lewis DIUGUID, mines the past to offer hope for the future. TheVillageCelebration’s Vickie Newton talks with Diuguid about his book, Our Fathers: Making Black Men.

Listen to the Interview

The International Photography Hall of Fame, in cooperation withCuba Educational Travel, is offering a unique photographic pg. 40 journey to this magical island with

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Volume 5.2 May 28, 2018

“

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 5.2 May 28, 2018

N O S A E S FESTIVAL Repertory

2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Joe Gfaller, Director of Marketing and Public Relations (314) 963-4293, jgfaller@opera-stl.org Kelsey Nickerson, Public Relations Coordinator (314) 963-4296, knickerson@opera-stl.org OTSL website: www.ExperienceOpera.org

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Announces 2019 Festival Season Repertory 2019 Season, Andrew Jorgensen’s First as General Director, Includes World Premiere of Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemons’ Fire Shut Up in My Bones, and All-New Productions of The Marriage of Figaro, Rigoletto, and The Coronation of Poppea.

St. Louis, MO, May 16, 2018 – Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has announced the complete schedule for OTSL’s 2019 Festival Season, which will run May 25 – June 30, 2019. The season continues OTSL’s long-standing commitment to creating resonant new opera performed by the greatest young artists of this generation. Three all-new productions will be performed in repertory with the previously announced Fire Shut Up in My Bones, which is the company’s 28th world premiere. The newly announced productions are Mozart’s comedy The Marriage of Figaro, Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto, and Monteverdi’s bloody political thriller The Coronation of Poppea. The season, which will be Andrew Jorgensen’s first as the company’s General Director, will also include the annual Center Stage concert, highlighting the talents of OTSL’s highly selective young artist programs.

“I couldn’t be more delighted to begin my tenure at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis with such a rich and diverse season of brilliant music making and powerful storytelling,” said General Director Designate Andrew Jorgensen. “While these operas span several centuries, they share one common thread: the power and beauty of live music to stir the soul. There is no better place to see these stories come alive than an intimate venue like the Loretto-Hilton Center – and what a talented group of artists we have assembled to create truly transformative experiences! I invite audiences far and wide to discover this season with us. It’s going to be a wonderful journey.”

All operas are accompanied by members of the Grammy Award-winning St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and are performed in English, with projected English titles. Details on casting, creative teams, and performance dates can be found in the following pages.

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OPERA THEATRE... cont.

The Marriage of Figaro May 25, 31, June 6, 8, 12, 16, 19, and 29 Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro opens the 2019 season with a new production directed by two-time Tony nominee and Metropolitan Opera veteran Mark Lamos. Christopher Allen returns to OTSL after conducting The Grapes of Wrath and La traviata.

Mozart’s comic masterwork takes place during the day of the wedding of Figaro and Susanna, two servants in the house of Count Almaviva. The Count is determined to seduce Susanna before she ties the knot with Figaro. Susanna, however, has other ideas. With the help of the Countess and a troublesome pageboy, a plan is set into motion to stop the madness before the day’s end.

Filled with moments of hilarity, sincerity, and humanity, The Marriage of Figaro reminds audiences that love will always prevail – and that forgiveness is always within reach.

The roles of Figaro and Susanna will be performed by Aubrey Allicock and Monica Dewey, starts whose careers began at OTSL young artists. Mr. Allicock, who is best remembered for his heartbreaking portrayal of Emile Griffith in the world premiere of Champion, returns to OTSL after debuts at such prominent venues as the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Washington National Opera. Ms. Dewey, who was a Gaddes Festival Artist in 2017’s Titus and who returns in 2018 as Alexandra in Regina, will represent the United States in the 2018 Operalia competition in Lisbon.

Baritone Theo Hoffman, last seen as Josef K. in 2017’s The Trial, will sing the jealous Count Almaviva. Soprano Susanna Biller, who has recently originated world-premier roles at the Minnesota Opera and San Francisco Opera, sings his wife, the Countess Rosina.

Rigoletto June 1, 5, 14, 20, 22, 26, and 30 Rigoletto, Verdi’s tale of love and revenge, returns to the OTSL stage for the first time in over a decade. Rigoletto, the court jester, serves up acerbic insults to amuse the court of the Duke of Mantua, while the licentious Duke seduces any woman who catches his eye. The jester begrudgingly serves his master until a curse from one of the Duke’s wronged families leaves Rigoletto uneasy. The final straw comes when the Duke steals Rigoletto’s own daughter Gilda away from him. Determined to seek revenge, Rigoletto sets a plan into action to repay the Duke – but instead ends up reaping the hatred he helped sow.

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OPERA THEATRE... cont.

Baritone Roland Wood returns to OTSL for his second Verdi title role after his critically acclaimed appearance in 2016’s Macbeth. Since Macbeth, he has enjoyed international fame, performing at the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera. Soprano So Young Park, who dazzled as Zerbinetta in 2016’s Ariadne on Naxos, sings his beloved daughter Gilda. She recently made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, and appears frequently at the LA Opera. Tenor Joshua Wheeker makes his leading role debut with OTSL as the Duke after spending a year in the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program at the LA Opera.

Casablanca-born stage director Bruno Ravella makes his OTSL debut with the production, and OTSL Head of Music Staff and Resident Conductor Roberto Kalb makes his debut conducting the full run of a mainstage production.

The Coronation of Poppea June 9, 13, 15, 22, 26, and 28 Claudio Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea, first performed in 1643, has been thrilling audiences from the beginning of operatic history with its story of political intrigue, blackmail, murder, and divine intervention. Poppea, a social-climbing noblewoman, has won the heart of Nero, the Emperor of Rome, and plans to marry him and become empress. Many obstacles stand in her way, but Poppea will stop at nothing until she takes the throne.

The staying power of this extraordinary early masterpiece is captured brilliantly in director Tim Albery’s new performing edition, which he originally devised in 2014 for Opera North (Leeds, England) based on his own translation. “The result,” wrote The Guardian, “suggests that the piece was a significant prototype for both kinds of opera, musical and soap…all set to music of the most sensuous and exquisite beauty.”

For the OTSL production, Poppea will be conducted by Nicholas Kok in his US debut. The highly sought-after English conductor’s previous appearances include multiple engagements with English National Opera, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Oper Köln, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, and Radio Sinfonie Orchester Berlin. Mezzo-soprano Emily Fons, who sings the title character Poppea, recently created the role of Ruby in Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain and makes her company debut at the Seattle Opera in 2019. Acclaimed young tenor Brenton Ryan is Nero, following performances at the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, and Houston Grand Opera.

Metropolitan Opera veteran bass-baritone David Pittsinger sings the doomed Seneca, and internationally renowned soprano Patricia Schuman sings the role of Arnalta, Poppea’s confidant.

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Fire Shut Up in My Bones June 15, 19, 21, 23, 27, and 29 As announced earlier in 2018, Fire Shut Up in My Bones will continue OTSL’s critically acclaimed New Works, Bold Voices series of new American opera, commissioned by OTSL to broaden the operatic canon. Co-commissioned with Jazz St. Louis, this opera-in-jazz by Grammy Award-winning composer Terence Blanchard (Champion, A Tale of God’s Will – A Requiem for Katrina) and screenwriter and librettist Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou, Black Nativity) is adapted from the memoir of celebrated writer and New York Times columnist Charles Blow.

A powerfully redemptive memory story, Fire Shut Up in My Bones traces the tale of young “Charles-Baby” growing up in the tiny town of Gibsland, Louisiana – where the legacy of his elders is closely felt alongside a near-constant wash of violence. The young Charles’ attachment to his mother – a fiercely driven woman – cannot protect him from secret abuse at the hands of an older cousin. Years follow of anger and searing self-doubt, until Charles faces a life-changing decision: continue the cycle of violence or choose forgiveness instead.

The cast features company debuts of three prominent American singers. Bass-baritone Davóne Tines sings the role of Charles Blow, who previously originated roles in major world premieres including Girls of the Golden West at San Francisco Opera, and has appeared at the Teatro Real de Madrid and Opéra National de Paris, among other prestigious international venues. Soprano Julia Bullock, whose operatic career began in OTSL’s Monsanto Artists-in-Training Program, has enjoyed an international career at the English National Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Soprano Karen Slack, whose recent credits include performances at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Washington National Opera sings the role of Charles’ mother. OTSL Artistic Director James Robinson directs and William Long makes his OTSL debut conducting.

Center Stage June 25, 2019 OTSL’s now-annual Center Stage concert returns for a one-night-only event of extraordinary singing, showcasing the talents of OTSL’s Richard Gaddes Festival Artists and Gerdine Young Artists. These are among the most selective young artist programs in the country, accepting just 30 to 40 singers annually from among as many as 1,200 applicants. Music Director Emeritus Stephen Lord will lead members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on stage for this exclusive performance.

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* Subscriptions to the 2019 Festival Season become available on Saturday, May 19, 2018 and can be purchased by phone or in person throughout OTSL’s 2018 Festival Season. Subscriptions will be available for purchase online in late June. Early bird subscription tickets start at only $40 for a two-opera matinee package or $76 for a four-opera series. Subscription prices increase September 29, 2018. Single tickets will be available for purchase in October 2018, with prices starting at just $25 per ticket. For more information about the 2019 Festival Season, visit ExperienceOpera.org or call the Opera Theatre Box Office at (314) 961-0644.

### About Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is one of the leading American opera companies, known for a spring festival of inventive new productions sung in English, featuring the finest American singers and accompanied by members of the St. Louis Symphony. As of its 2018 Festival Season, Opera Theatre has presented 27 world premieres and 27 American premieres — which may be the highest percentage of new work in the repertory of any US company. Described by the Times of London as “one of the few American companies worth the transatlantic fare,” Opera Theatre of Saint Louis annually welcomes visitors from nearly every state and close to a dozen foreign countries. Although the size of the theater typically limits box office income to less than a quarter of the budget, the company has consistently produced work of the highest quality while never accumulating a deficit.

Opera Theatre also has a long tradition of discovering and promoting the careers of the finest operatic artists of the current generation. Among the artists who had important early opportunities at Opera Theatre are Erie Mills, Jerry Hadley, Christine Brewer, Thomas Hampson, Sylvia McNair, Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, Dwayne Croft, Patricia Racette, Matthew Polenzani, Nathan Gunn, Lawrence Brownlee, Kelly Kaduce, and Jennifer Johnson Cano. Opera Theatre has always been known for distinguished leadership: founding general director Richard Gaddes was succeeded in 1985 by general director Charles MacKay, with famed British stage director Colin Graham as artistic director and Stephen Lord as music director. (Mr. Lord became music director emeritus and artistic director of young artist programs in 2017.) Timothy O’Leary was named general director in October 2008, at the same time acclaimed stage director James Robinson succeeded the late Colin Graham. At the conclusion of Mr. O’Leary’s tenure as General Director in July 2018, he will be succeeded by General Director Designate Andrew Jorgensen.

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Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is funded in part by the Regional Arts Commission, Arts and Education Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Missouri Arts Council, with audience building programs supported by The Wallace Foundation.

Generous leadership support for the services of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is provided by the Taylor family and the late Jack C. Taylor. ###

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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.

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

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The Tammi Holland Show

WATCH NOW!

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Friday

JUNE 15 • 5pm–8pm

Museum’s North Lawn and Throughout the Museum

FREE

2018 PROGRAMS

JUNETEENTH Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration

commemorating the end of slavery in the US. It

was on June 19, 1865, that Union soldiers, led

PRESENTED IN COLLABORATION WITH

St. Louis Inner City Culture Center Enterprise

JUNETEENTH

Celebration

by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended, and enslaved men and women were free. Join us for a family-friendly outdoor festival featuring live entertainment, spoken word, a film screening, and much

JUNETEENTH more!

Visit mohistory.org

for more information.

Forest Park • St. Louis • 314.746.4599 • mohistory.org

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Featured

Artist

Submission

Ben

Agbee

PROFILE:

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MELODY | Pen on Card | 12x24 Inches

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BLUE WOMEN | Acrylic on Canvas | 24x36 Inches

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What do I do?

I help the college bound teens of busy parents write extraordinary college entrance essays. And, I provide perceptive leaders with trustworthy diversity & inclusion facilitation.

My book, Chop: A Collection of Kwansabas for Fannie Lou Hamer, is available at www.femininepronoun.com

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Nina Simone I wish I knew how it would feel to be free

a h s r a M

(Live in Montreux) 1976

Live

n n Ca

is S y M at “

w

82

t t ie

u l tB

e i am

H ith

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” e c la

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Tim Cunningham

Live at the Sheldon! pg.

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Featured

Poetry &...

Susan

Submission

Lively

Susan “Spit-Fire” Lively

is a poet, spoken word artist, model, producer, photographer, visual artist, educator, and activist from Belleville, IL. Co-organizer of “100,000 Poets & Musicians for Change – St. Louis” since its inception in 2011; Susan also produces the series’ “First Bloom” and “Women For Peace”, and co-produces the “Dia de los Muertos Fiesta”. In 2016 she became an Officer of Urb Arts’ Executive Board. In January of 2017 Susan produced the St. Louis leg of the international event “Poets & Musicians Against Trump” (with co-producer John Blair).

Lively’s been featured on “Literature For The Halibut”, “The Arts with Nancy Kranzberg”, “WESLTV -24” and PBS’ “Living St. Louis”. She has taught spoken word and creative writing at Confluence Academy, Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition, and for the Nine Network and St. Louis Fringe. Susan’s art exhibits have been featured at Urb Arts, Mokabe’s, Seven, Yeyo Arts, and more and can now be purchased at fineartamerica.com. Her work has been published in “Static Movement”, “Postcard Shorts”, “Head To Hand”, “The East St. Louis Monitor”, “The PEN”, “Chance Operations”, “Drumvoices Revue 20th Anniversary Edition”, “SIUE News”, “Big Bridge”, “No Vacancy”, the «She Chronicles», and the social justice anthology “Crossing the Divide”. lostnation2009@gmail.com

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A Speck of Light I am a pool of liquid heat, underneath your limbs feel me, thrashing, thrashing.

I ripple across the vast expanse, and then come back to myself again, this is Heaven.

I am a harp’s strings, being pulled, plucked, and teased again.

Reaching new heights of ecstasy in this dual symphony.

I am a speck of light in a universe bright with new possibilities.

I am fierce animal temptress, a being of passion and fire.

Rocketing through space, I burst into flame.

Overcome with such heady desire, consumed and reborn again and again.

Aching, aching deep within, I long to be possessed, taken and given like a gift, sealing the rift, within our lost souls.

So painful, swollen, and wet, I long to be possessed; healing the rift, within our souls.

I will never be whole until I am one with you.

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King (for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) His eyes reflected: dignity, respect, love, hope, sadness, despair, and loss.

Somehow he is still alive, he lives on in my head.

Somehow he is still alive, he is not truly dead.

He speaks to me from pages, he speaks to me with more than words.

He speaks to me from pages, and love is all I’ve ever heard.

His posture was studious: a study in perseverance, in patience, in steely, stubborn self-determination.

In peaceful disobedience a rebel is born.

He is alive in me, I feel his fire, his spirit, he is not truly gone.

He speaks to me from T.V. screens, he speaks to me with more than words.

He speaks to me from reel to real, and love is all I’ve ever heard.

His smile was a rare gift, wise and beautiful and never resigned, to the pain his heart knew, to the fear within his mind.

His hands, so unassuming, held us all, held the fate of the world.

He speaks to me from history, and love is all I’ve ever heard.

Do we ever know how truly powerful we are?

Our words and deeds live on, long after we are gone.

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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

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.

“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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Kenautis Smith & lyfestyle7 Peace!

In every life a little rain must fall. Kenautis Smith X lyfestile7 are here with compelling sights and sounds to get you through the storm. If you like it, please pass it on to your loved ones.

Check the video shot by Kenautis Smith! -

Here's the SOUNDCLOUD LINK! https://soundcloud.com/ kenautis-smith-955399236/ kenautis-smith-x-lyfestile- rain Do remember to follow Somethingwonderfulrecords on Youtube and IG?!

Check the links below to catch up things you might have missed https://soundcloud.com/lyfesti le7

https://www.facebook.com/lyfes tile

https://www.instagram.com/sw.r ecords/

twitter.com/lyfestile7

https://www.instagram.com/lyfe stile7

http://lyfestile.tumblr.com/

-lyfestile

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Featured

Photography

Mark

Submission

Murphy

III

Photographer: Mark MURPHY III Model: Alyshia DIVAA

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Coffee With Caregivers June 14, 2018

9:30-11:30am JB Division, Building 52, Room 1-S-58 This group is designed for Caregivers of our enrolled Veterans or Veterans caring for a loved one. We will have a volunteer to provide respite for your veteran during this event. ➢ Develop support and connect with other Caregivers ➢ Take time to relax and have a little respite from caregiving ➢ Learn about available resources within the VA and community

Please RSVP by June 11, 2018 to Tammy Scott or Deanna Farrell (314) 652-4100, Ext. 54127

Building 52

parking

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Behind

Behind the Eerie Veil of Racism Whites calling the cops on Blacks

the Eerie

Veil

of

RACISM

Why

are so many White people calling the police on Black

people for doing the most ordinary and non-threatening things?

Why are

so many police officers responding so quickly to these calls? Seemingly unencumbered by the thought processes, charging in without questioning the callers’ motives or whether the information is accurate.

On April 12, two African American men in Philadelphia were waiting on a business associate in Starbucks Coffee. Within minutes, a store manager called 911 because they had not ordered. A White woman customer videoed on her smart phone the two being handcuffed and arrested.

Going viral on Facebook, it brewed outrage with calls for a boycott in the City of Brotherly Love.

The two young men, Rashon Nelson and Donte

Robinson, both 23, said they feared for their lives and understandably so.

Later they reached a settlement with the city for $1 and a commitment to a pilot program for young entrepreneurs.

Kevin Johnson, who leads Starbucks, quickly decided to have racial bias training on May 29 for its 175 thousand employees, closing more than 8 thousand stores. MSNBC on the same day scheduled a national dialogue in Philadelphia, called Everyday Racism in America “to take a hard look inward and ask the tough questions about our ingrained prejudice,” co-

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BEHIND THE ERIE VEIL... cont.

hosted by Chris Hayes of All In and Joy Reid of AM Joy with the Rev. Al

cookout playing hip-hop music and “oldies but goodies” rhythm and blues.

Sharpton of PoliticsNation.

On April 30, three African American women and one White woman were putting their luggage in their car after checking out of an unlicensed Airbnb in Rialto, California. Seven police officers showed up, demanded they put their hands in the air and said a helicopter was overhead. To make matters worse, they locked down the entire neighborhood. One of the women, filmmaker Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, videoed and posted it on Facebook Live and it also went viral. Because an elderly White woman said they did not respond to her wave, she promptly called the police.

After she saw the White woman she became a little confused, thinking she had made a mistake. The woman owner of the Airbnb agreed with her neighbor asserting not waving back is rude. So, since when is being rude (if they were) a crime?

And let’s not forget the April 30 incident involving two Native American brothers, Thomas Kanewakeron Gray, 19 and Lloyd Skanahwati Gray, 17 from Santa Cruz, New Mexico. The two drove seven hours to go on a college tour at their dream school, Colorado State University. As fate would have it, a White woman, (mother of one of the students) felt “nervous” and called campus police. They were patted down and told to empty their pockets.

Sidelined so long and so perplexed by the entire

ordeal, they left for home, missing the tour. April has been a strange month to say the least.

So what the hell is going on?”

As the saying goes: “Stop the world I want to get off.

It’s a dark age we live in with such self-centered arrogance, haughtiness

On April 21, five African American women golfers – members of the Grandview Golf Course, York County, Pennsylvania -- were playing too slow for White males and so they called the police.

The women are

members of a golf organization called Sisters of the Fairway. One of them began recording when police arrived, sensing what was up. In another weird case on April 29, Blacks were barbecuing in a permitted area of a park in Oakland, California, a White woman spotted them, lectured them and then called the police. A few days later, hundreds turned out en masse, calling it: “BBQing while Black,” holding a massive

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and callousness.

These insensitive callers apparently want to see people

of color suffer, harassed and jailed. Prying eyes, slyly sneaking around, like covert operatives, as if they have nothing better to do than to poke around in other people’s business and where law enforcement is acting more like lapdogs than watchdogs.

Comedian Wyatt Cenac, formerly on the Daily Show when John Stewart was the host, was a guest on All In with Chris Hayes, Friday, May 25.

Wyatt’s new HBO program Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Area, with his hilariously dry wit, discussed these bizarre and perplexing problems.

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BEHIND THE ERIE VEIL... cont.

But let’s not fool ourselves, most of us know that the age of social media has ushered in more of America’s ugliness. Many people of color are already familiar, as they have been the unfortunate targets all along.

But as one White woman recently commented on Facebook, something to the effect: “I had no idea this was going on to this extent.”

Even some

Blacks are shocked. Suffice it to say, eyes are wide open to these nefarious and grossly unfair activities.

So, let’s continue to shed

spotlights on racism that usually goes undetected.

Cenac spoke about the tricky line most people of color must walk with law enforcement. “People of color who are taught from an early age how to engage with law enforcement is different than how White people engage with law enforcement and especially how affluent people engage with law enforcement” he said, adding, “(that) there is a real guard that you have to kind of walk through the world …”

“Blacks lack the luxury of venting anger through their TV sets without risk of being profiled as a threat,” said Cenac.

In order to survive and not be injured or worst yet killed, Blacks must maintain their wits and endure a tremendous amount of calm, while trying not to lose their pride or dignity. As one false move in the eyes of racist police could result in a long stint in prison or fatal like the tragic case of Eric Garner in New York City who protested the police harassing him about selling single cigarettes or Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri or Sandra Bland in Waller County, Texas. The list goes on and on: The

the former Obama aide, a Black male moving into his apartment in New York City. In St. Louis, three Black male teenagers shopping at Nordstrom Rack for prom outfits were falsely accused of stealing. Due to callers’ underhanded tactics, all were confronted with police officers.

Call out and publicly shame these frivolous, racist callers who are wreaking havoc. They should learn that this is socially unacceptable behavior. If done on purpose, then arrest them.

As Cenac noted on the All In show, while we view police misconduct and violence as a national problem, departments are distinct with local systems.

There are thousands of them -- from huge ones such as in

New York City with 36 thousand officers to smaller ones no bigger than twelve.

Yet despite the size, the problem is widespread.

It boils down to

this: To many Whites feel threatened when they see Black people. And apparently the first thing they want to do is call the authorities as if there is some kind of emergency. At the same time, these actions must be addressed at the local level as they are putting law abiding citizens in danger; wasting taxpayers’ money and police officers’ time that could be better utilized fighting real crime. To reiterate, these deluded callers must be confronted and they must face up to their racism. For example, the woman -- still anonymous -- who notified the campus police about the two Native American brothers must be named and denounced.

The

school has strongly urged her to come forward and apologize (she’s yet to do so).

College officials have already apologized.

Yale Black woman student sleeping in the common area of her dorm or

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BEHIND THE ERIE VEIL... cont.

Some claim that those who want to disrupt racist behavior with the

outrageous to some Whites that President Trump (the nation’s leading

catchphrase: “If you see something, do something” is to blame. They

racist) -- with extraordinary political audacity -- declared they should not

contend that these informants, scary and nervous about nothing, who see

be in the country.

themselves as taking a bite out of crime, have been influenced by this.

exercising what is considered their First Amendment right, one of the

The Neighborhood Watch program perverted by George Zimmerman,

most cherished. On the other hand, at the White supremacists protest

White, who gunned down Black teenager Trayvon Martin, is another case

last summer in Charlottesville, Virginia, though spewing racist and anti-

in point. Again, very worthwhile practices are being perverted and

Semitic hatred, even murdering a young woman by running her down in a

distorted all in the name of ensnaring innocent Blacks.

car, Trump angrily defended them saying some were good people. Some

“If you see something, do something” is related to bias such as a young woman wearing a hijab being harassed on a subway.

Passengers should

do something, even if they just video it and post in on Facebook. Or

There is now a NFL policy that fines players for

blame Trump for the seeming surge in racist calls to the police.

Trump’s

fangs have sunk deep into the weak psyche of too many Whites, with poison coursing through their veins.

those who were aware of the 95 women who accused movie mogul

Cenac, also an actor, producer and Emmy award winning writer, does

Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse or the women who accused Bill Cosby,

part of his program in the studio and the rest traveling the country.

they should have done something, like reporting it. It doesn’t mean if

spent an episode examining policing including community policing which

you see Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby walking down the street or

he said works best when there is a dialogue between the residents and

someone who looks like them you should call the police.

the officers rather than participating in line dances or playing sports.

Racist Whites try to entangle Blacks into a psychological jujitsu when Blacks feel like they are being discriminated against.

Cenac put it this way: “Anything that seems, you know, untoward or seems emotional all of a sudden does seem like a threat (to Whites) and

He

He compared racist White callers reporting Black people like using your TV remote control. It makes it easier to be racist -- as they’re hiding behind it. “I don’t want the awkwardness of my own personal bias and … to avoid seeming racist you call the cops and let them do it.”

we hear that it seems like a threat to law enforcement … and people perceive you even being critical of law enforcement” as a hostile act.

Wyatt’s new HBO program Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Area -- recently renewed -- airs on Fridays, 10 PM, CST.

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick who kneeled protesting police brutality followed by other players who also took a knee is so

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Malaika Horne, PhD, is a journalist and academic writer.

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THINGS WE DO IN TIMBUKTU

The second children's book by the creators of The Black History Boy and Black Archaeologist animated black history webseries.

BlackArchaeologist.com / YouTube, TechNubian1

CALL FOR ART “All Colors” OVERVIEW: “All Colors” is an invitational and juried arts exhibit featuring the art of approximately 100 artists and 200 pieces of art. The show takes place January 13 through February 28, 2018 at the St. Louis Artist Guild, 12 Jackson Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105. We expect strong attendance, as the “All Colors” exhibit is a fund raiser with art and related funds to benefit artist of all disciplines, small not for profit 501C3 organizations and community/neighborhood organizations. Clayton, and the surrounding region have long been supporters of the arts and Portfolio Gallery and the “All Colors” sponsors are committed to make this exhibit a successful fund raiser and to introduce the St. Louis Metropolitan region to artist that mainstream publications have overlooked.

HOW TO APPLY: Online applications may be completed though Portfolio’s website at www.portfoliogallerystl.org Click the Call for Art link that will take you to the sign-up, upload and payment. Each application must include the requested uploaded images and an artist’s statement of 100 words or less explaining the artist’s creative process including specific information about technique and materials.

Submit your art now!

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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 FOOD

When Trying to

$AVE Growing up, birthdays are and have always been huge deals. My birthday has forever been my favorite holiday!

(Yes, I said holiday! It’s marked on my calendar every year lol) It got so bad that my mom implemented a rule about my birthday after I turned 4 or 5. I was not allowed to talk about my plans for birthday (which is in April) until January! One of my mother’s favorite stories to tell is me talking about next years party plans while we’re walking to the car with my gifts in our hands. I vividly remember doing this, so unfortunately I can’t even say she’s blowing it out of proportion. This year’s celebration was no different than the others.

Even though I’m rapidly approaching 30 (eek!), I’m still excited to celebrate in any way. I do so much for others all the time and always have a full plate before me…the ability to have one day where it’s just for and about me, unparalleled. This year I decided to make my own birthday cake for the 1st time. I couldn’t decide what flavor I wanted nor did I want to shell out $60-$80 that I knew we wouldn’t finish eating. One of my favorite cupcakes was a Lemon Poppyseed cake filled with Lemon Curd and topped with a Blueberry Buttercream. I didn’t have time to make it from scratch, especially since I made it at work, but I’ll leave multiple recipes for this delectable dessert.

I’m a bigger fan of Cream Cheese Icing more than any other, but I decided to go with a traditional Buttercream Icing. I low key regret it. Buttercream & I just don’t get along. While my cake turned out to be amazingly delicious, the icing fell and I was forced to re-frost parts of my cake before “Happy Birthday” was sung. Part of it was due to the blueberries that I simmered in lemon juice, water and sugar, because even though I drained it, it added extra moisture to the icing. The other part, that’s just the relationship I’ve typically had with Buttercream. So I would recommend using your favorite Cream Cheese Icing recipe, or your go to store brand.

Pillsbury’s Buttercream Icing. The only step that I did from scratch this time, was cooking the blueberries to make them a compote consistency. I don’t regret making this from scratch for one second, because it turned out to be delicious! I’m not a baker by any means and I know I’m not the only one out there. My trick/secret to making any boxed dessert is to substitute milk for water. It makes cakes, brownies, cookies, etc. fluffy, moist & taste more like it’s homemade.

Bon Appétit,

Doré

when you're done. ~Léna O. A. Jackson www.facebook.com/gspDore www.instagram.com/gspDore gspDoreinfo@gmail.com

I took easy way out on this cake! I purchased 2 boxes of Pillsbury’s Super Moist Lemon Cake, found jars of lemon curd (after going to 2 stores), & 3 containers of

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ART OF FOOD... cont.

Lemon Cake INGREDIENTS 1 ½ 1 ½ C

Sticks Unsalted Butter, softened

Granulated Sugar

4 large

Eggs, room temperature §

2 ½ C

Cake Flour *

½ tsp

Salt

2 ½ tsp zest of 2 1 ¼ C 2 Tbsp 2 tsp 2 Tbsp

Baking Powder Lemons Milk Vegetable Oil Lemon Extract Poppyseeds

* If you don’t have cake flour, for each cup of all purpose flour remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. For this recipe, measure out 2 ½ cups all purpose flour, remove 5 Tablespoons and replace with 5 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk to blend. § If eggs are cold, place in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes DIRECTIONS Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch pans. In a medium sized bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and zest of 2 lemons. Whisk to blend. In another bowl, add the milk, vegetable oil and lemon extract. Whisk to blend.

Beat the softened butter until lightened in color and smooth.

Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed 4 to 5 minutes until it is light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears. Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture alternately. Begin and end with the flour. Mix until combined and smooth, do not mix above medium speed or over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool in the pans 10 minutes then turn out.

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ART OF FOOD... cont.

French Blueberry Buttercream

Fresh Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS 1 ½ C

Blueberries, fresh or frozen,

if using frozen don’t thaw

2 Tbsp

Lemon Juice

Yields: 4 cups Ingredients:

2 sticks (8 oz) Unsalted Butter, VERY soft

2 C

½ tsp

Salt

3 ½ C

Confectioners Sugar

(more if needed), sifted

1 Tbsp

Heavy Cream (more if needed)

¼ cup ing

Fresh Blueberries, for decorat(optional)

Blueberries, fresh

3 Tbsp

Granulated Sugar

1 Tbsp

Cornstarch

16oz

Cream Cheese, softened

½ C

Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

2¼C

Powdered Sugar

2 tsp

Vanilla Extract

pinch

Kosher or Sea Salt

finely grated zest from ½ a medium lemon

In a small saucepan combine blueberries and lemon juice; bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly and gently smashing the blueberries smooth, until thickened into a deep, dark blueberry reduction, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a small bowl and push the puree though, leaving any skin/large chunks behind. Allow mixture to cool completely before using. If you’d like to have enough blueberry puree to drizzle on the cupcakes, double this recipe and set half aside for decorating.

Directions: Combine the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest in a saucepan. Cook the sauce over medium heat until the sauce thickens and the cornstarch becomes translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the blueberry puree has cooled, place the softened butter in a large bowl or in the body of a stand mixer. Using a handheld mixer, or with the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, beat butter on medium-high (scraping down the sides as needed) until completely smooth; about 2 minutes.

Add in a ¼ cup of the blueberry puree and beat until completely combined; about 1 minute. Add in the confectioners sugar, one cup at a time, on low speed. Once all of the sugar has been added, add in the cream and salt, then beat on high-speed for a full 2 minutes - this thickens up the frosting and makes it nice and fluffy.

pg.

In large bowl, add cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Cream together all the ingredients until smooth and creamy.

Add half of the blueberry sauce and gently fold into the cream cheese frosting. Add the remaining half of the sauce and stir in until the frosting becomes a blue/purple color, or until you like the texture of the frosting. The more you mix the frosting, the less chunks of blueberry you will have in the frosting. Spread frosting on your favorite cake or cupcakes. Enjoy!

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May 26

SATURDAY

th

Please join New Music Circle for the last presentation of our 59th season, on Saturday, May 26th at Off Broadway. We will debut a first time trio collaboration of several names who should be familiar to NMC audiences: Cooper­Moore, Joshua Abrams, and Hamid Drake.

Please join us and celebrate our closing-out of this memorable 59th Season, as well as an announcement of our forthcoming 60th Season lineup! Concert and artist information may be found below.

“Acting White”

Share your Story Dear friends: I have been asked to write a chapter in a book that will address colorism in education. My chapter will focus on “acting white.”

Specifically, when I was growing up, I was a “smart” student. My top performance in school, doing homework, raising my hand to answer questions, etc. often drew the accusation from my African American classmates and friends that I was “acting white.”

Now, I know there are psychologists out there who say this is not true and does not exist. But alas, it was absolutely true for me. I have written about this in past works. I will do so again for this new book. I do know that many young folks today who continue to have such allegations hurled at them so feel free to share this email with whoever and have folks email me directly.

I did a survey on this very question about 7 years ago and the results were consistent with my experiences decades ago. I’d like to update my earlier survey. I would love to hear from anyone out there who has a similar/related story either involving yourself or someone you know. I would like to include your story in the chapter. I will conceal your identity if you request.

Do you have a story to share? If so, please email to me at: norwood@wulaw.wustl.edu.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

Cooper­Moore – self-built instruments, percussion, keyboards Joshua Abrams – guimbri, upright bass Hamid Drake – drums, percussion

Kimberly Norwood , Professor of Law | Washington University School of Law pg.

130

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

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

The “All Colors” exhibition will feature the art of invited artist Dean Mitchell, Charles Bibbs, Manuelita Brown, Ed Johnetta Miller, Lonnie Powell, Robert Hale, Sandra Smith, Cbabi Bayoc, Thomas Sleet, Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, Ronald Johnson and others.

"Quiet Time" by: Lonnie Powell

Our goal is to create an exciting art event that attracts a national audience. Sells income will support general operations of Portfolio, Inc. a not-for-profit 501C3 arts organization and further be used to provide grants to St. Louis artists, small notfor-profits and community based organizations.

Please join the award winning Portfolio Gallery as it presents its 1st Annual “All Colors” Visual Arts Invitational & Juried Exhibition to be held January 13th through February 28, 2018, at the St. Louis Artist Guild, 12 Jackson Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105.

Portfolio Gallery is a member of The Alliance of Black Galleries

"Cuban Dancer" by: Ed Johnetta Miller pg.

132

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Scott Joplin House State Historic Site Family Fun Day

Saturday, May 26, 2018 2:30—4:30 p.m.

2658 Delmar, St. Louis, MO 63103

Birds of a Feather…

This Family Fun Day will feature birds of prey including falcons, hawks, vultures and a Scott Joplin crowd favorite, owls. Not only will you meet different species of raptors, but you’ll also learn how to identify a bird of prey in the wild. See and hear about the amazing life of Barn Owls, Screech Owls and the Great Horned Owl. Sit back and enjoy an up close view as some of the birds soar right over your head! …And our special guest, a Bald Eagle!

This program is free and open to the public, but please call 314-340-5790 to RSVP. First 50 families to register will receive a backyard birdfeeder

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ART OF HEALING

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

Your Ad or Article could be here!

Contact us if you have a contribution to the ART OF HEALING.

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“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.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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DISPLACED

&ERASED

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

Your support would mean a lot to me.

Thank you so much!

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

- Michael Lambert

Black Archaeologist. pg.

140

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CITY A sleeping, silent

!

Y

ou probably wonder why I portray the Gateway City as ‘hushed and dormant’. Well, actually I am speaking mostly about African-Americans and poor people who depend on municipal services and elected officials.

were allegedly designed to preserve 74,000 buildings on the Southside, while destroying 70,000 houses in North St. Louis. Were Wilson and Claiborne forecasters? Or were they just watchful citizens who weren’t falling for ‘smoke room politics’?

Have you seen “The Color of Medicine”, the documentary describing the history of medical training of AfricanAmericans at Homer G. Phillips Hospital? It is outstanding.

And why is it that in 2018, North St. Louis has NO hospital and very limited access to health care? There are no hospital beds in North St. Louis City.

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 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 the country where black doctors, nurses and technicians receive training, the influence of Homer G. Phillips Hospital spread throughout the nation.’

On Saturday, June 16, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a story that said ‘City budget has no money for ConnectCare health plan.’ The story said that Mayor Francis Slay is committed to trying to provide the $5 million a year the city promised for persons who are uninsured. Slay said he was seeking private grants and federal and state aid to make ConnectCare more efficient. We all know how that turned out.

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 Element-The 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.’ Do you see the results? Has the old Pruitt-Igoe site convinced you yet?

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 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 sports stadium that your local governments helped finance. 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? What do you care about? Life, health-care or baseball. Actually, it is not your decision anymore.

See

the

documentary

something.

and

then………

……..do

~ Bernie Hayes

The proposal allegedly surfaced in 1973 by Aldermen John Roach and Richard Gephardt. The two bills they introduced

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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 pg.

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PTSD from a

Caregiver’s Perspective Thursday, June 21, 2018 Registration begins at 8:45 a.m.

Workshop 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Lunch will be served) Building 56, Room 1A-100-Medical Media Jefferson Barracks Division, VA St. Louis Health Care System This all-day workshop specifically for Caregivers of a Veteran with PTSD is designed to help Caregivers gain a goal-oriented perspective related to PTSD as they experience it with their Veteran.

All topics will specifically address questions and concerns of Caregivers of Veterans with PTSD. Topics for the day will cover: ➢ Enhancements to move Caregivers and Veterans beyond PTSD ➢ What is PTSD? What isn’t PTSD? ➢ Common diagnosis, symptoms, behaviors and personality traits seen with PTSD ➢ Why is treatment so hard? ➢ Treatments that work ➢ What to expect while your Veteran is in treatment ➢ What Caregivers can do to help a Veteran with PTSD

Please RSVP by June 18, 2018

Care for the Caregiver:

A telephone education group focused on strategies to enhance resilience and restore balance

A Caregiver’s Story: Overcoming Barriers and Finding Resilience A Caregiver shares the wisdom gained from managing the challenges and rewards of her caregiving journey Open discussion to follow Facilitated by the VA Caregiver Support Line

Wednesday June 27, 2018 at 10am ET This is open to Family Caregivers of Veterans of all eras.

If you would like to participate, please contact your Caregiver Support Coordinator:

to Deanna Farrell and Tammy Scott

(314) 652-4100, Ext. 54127

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OPPORTUNITIES

CLICK HERE TO VIEW AD

The Bernie Hayes Show Talk and interviews about affairs of the day with a St. Louis slant.

The Bernie Hayes Show can be seen: Friday’s at 9 A.M. Saturday’s at 10:00 P.M. Sunday’s at 5:30 P.M.

PUT SOMETHING CLEAN ON YOUR TV! pg.

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CAREERS

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A big Thank You to our CONTRIBUTERS

&

SPONSORS

For information on sponsoring or Advertising in ARTS-TODAY email us at ATadvertise@aol.com . To contribute articles email us at ArtsTodayInfo@aol.com. www.the-arts-today.com

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Over 30 Issues Published

Thank You!!

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