Arts Today Ezine vol 2.10 by Arts Today Ezine

Vol 2.10

December 23, 2015

FEATURED ARTIST:

IS’MIMA pg #54

View this and past issues from our website.

CASSIUS CLAY IDRIS GOODWIN pg. #14

DOES RACISM... DR. MCCARTHY pg. #18

LEFTOVERS... LENA JACKSON pg.#126

IN THIS

ISSUE:

IN THE NEWS NABJ

6 OP / ED TBA

18 DOES RACISM LIVE HERE? DR. TRACEY MCCARTHY

MOTOWN WAS NOT EVERYTHING BERNIE HAYES

80 CHI-RAQ JERRY WARD

EDUCATION FOR ALL DR. CARLETTA WASHINGTON

pg.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

CORNER...

PUBLIC PERFORMANCES:

IUS 14

FEBRUARY 12–14, 19–21 & 26–28

FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS AT 7:30PM LIVE / WORK / PLAY SUNDAYS AT 2:00PM NATE JOHNSON

SCHOOL MATINEES: MONDAY – THURSDAY AT 10:00AM

FEBRUARY 1–4, 2016 TUESDAYS – FRIDAYS AT 10:00AM

FEBRUARY 9–26, 2016

“CASSIUS CLAY” PLAY IDRIS GODWIN

TICKETS: ADULTS STUDENTS, SENIORS & MILITARY MHM MEMBERS, GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE

ODWIN 40

NG OF

REBUILDING BLACK LIVES... APOLPHUS M. PRUITT

MAD

E IN FOREST PARK

SCHOOL GROUP RATE*

$18 $14 $12 $8

*ONE FREE ADULT ADMISSION WITH 20 STUDENTS RUN TIME 70 MINUTES APPROPRIATE FOR ADULTS AND KIDS 8 AND UP

TO BOOK SCHOOL GROUPS, CONTACT: RON JAMES 314.932.7414 X105 OR RON@METROPLAYS.ORG OR VISIT WWW.METROPLAYS.ORG

50 FEATURED POET JASON VASSER

“. . . for u, the sky’s the “unlimit”...” Baba Sherman Fowler,

Griot and Poet

ABOUT METRO THEATER COMPANY uhammad Ali in Jim Crow Louisville, the play Since 1973, Metro Theater Company has created man whoEstablished believes his potential is unlimited 2014 compelling theater and education programs to foster NOTE: COPYRIGHT: Volume 2.10 stronger communities of critical thinkers and to promote racism St. he Louis, is surrounded by. With the help of As the publishers of The Arts Today Ezine we take This Ezine and the content published within are MO social growth. As the only professional Theater for Young careBut in the production of each issue. We are however, subject to copyright held by the publisher, with www.the-arts-today.com/ olice officer, Cassius fulfills his dreams. Audiences in St. Louis with national and international not liable for any editorial error, omission, mistake or individual articles remaining property of the named acclaim, Metro Theater Companyare provides ay, he comes to understand there aretypographical more error. The views expressed those professional contributor. Express written permission of the theater for all audiences to create of the contributors andexperiences not necessarily those of their publisher and contributors must be acquired for Layout/Design nal success – he must also use his gifts to respective companies or the publisher. opportunities for reflection, insight and conversation. reproduction. www.bdesignme.com munity. Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

In The News

Statement From NABJ on Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery Trespassing Charge While Covering Ferguson Last Year

The National Association of Black Journalists expresses concern with the decision by prosecutors in St. Louis County, Mo. to charge Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post with trespassing and interfering with a police officer. The charges stem from an incident that took place as Lowery, 25, was in Ferguson, Mo. in 2014 to report on the shooting death of Michael Brown, a black teen, by a white police officer. “Reporters have every right to do their jobs, pursue the truth and publish it,” NABJ President Sarah Glover said. The association is troubled by the action taken by prosecutors and believe it to be a direct assault on the free exercise of the First Amendment, which ensures journalists can practice their craft. Journalists understand citizens, including journalists, must respect the rule of law, but as the Supreme Court of the United States noted in its 1972 decision in Branzburg v. Hayes,”... without some protection for seeking out the news, freedom of the press could be eviscerated.” The organization believes Lowery acted reasonably in pursuit of news and information needed by the public in the aftermath of the shooting death of Brown and in light of ensuing unrest in Ferguson. The initial decision to release Lowery without filing charges also suggests that authorities themselves believed that his initial arrest could have been an abuse of power and discretion. The organization encourages local officials to drop the charges filed against Lowery so journalists can operate without fear that doing their jobs will lead to them being jailed. Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron called the charges “outrageous.” Lowery is a former NABJ board member. An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization for journalists of color in the nation, and provides career development as well as educational and other support to its members worldwide.

pg.

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A BRAND NEW LANGUAGE IS EMERGING DR. MALAIKA HORNE..................pg. 88 SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS THE FITNESS BOSS.....................pg. 122 LEFTOVER WOES LENA O.A. JACKSON....................pg. 126 LORNA’S TRAGIC KNIFE DR. JERRY WARD....................pg. 145

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 15, 2015

OP / ED SECTION

ArtsTODAY NEWSZINE

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

We seek to impact the world with the love of Christ one life at a time! Hopelessness and desperation are on the rise in a world where the greatest segment of the population possesses the least amount of resources. We need your help! Please help us fight this epidemic by sending your tax deductible donations/contributions to: For His Glory Ministries of St. Louis P.O. Box 1942 Maryland Heights, MO. 63043 http://calvarychapelslc.com/homeless-ministry/ For other ways in which you can help please contact Pamela Ford at pamelaford98@gmail.com or 314-216-0744. Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

SAVE THE DATE!!!!! Saturday, December 12, “Oh Buy the Way” Tours will take you on another ride filled with fun, food and laughter!!! Here’s a sampling of where we might go: GET IN THE LOOP.................................A GRAND AFFAIR New Beauty....................................Epiphany Boutique Bentil’s Jahz Art.............................Diversity Gallery NVMe 365................................Progressive Emporium Miss M’s Candy..............................A Taste of Luxurie Calla Lily.........................................Femme Fatale Cocktailz-A Beauty Bar ************************************************** Haven’t started your Christmas shopping yet? GET ON THE BUS! Discover some fabulous finds inside these unique boutiques!! Stay tuned for more details!! ©2015 Oh Buy the Way | Saint Louis, MO

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

LIVE WORK PLAY

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Nate K. Johnson ABR,CRS,GRI Broker/Owner Real Estate Solutions nate@livingstl.com www.livingstl.com

2 pg.

Local Events DECEMBER

DECEMBER

20 thru

Polar Express Train Ride Union Station (Dates Vary) November 20th - December 30th

3rd Annual Garden Glow MO Botanical Gardens (Dates Vary) November 21st - January 2nd

DECEMBER

24 The Christmas Event: Past, Present, Future The Old Rock House

December 23rd at 6:30 pm

Fox Theater

December 24th at 1 PM www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

LIVE WORK PLAY

DECEMBER

thru

Sip of St. Louis MO History Museum December 27th - 28th

Trans-Siberian OrchestraScott Trade Center December 27th

DECEMBER

29 pg.

DECEMBER

thru

Kwanzaa First Fruits MO Botanical Gardens December 30th

JANUARY

Ratatouille in Concert - STL Symphony

January 2nd at 7 PM

Star Wars: The Force AwakensSt. Louis Science Center Omnimax January 2nd - 18th www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

AND IN THIS CORNER...

PUBLIC PERFORMANCES: FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS AT 7:30PM SUNDAYS AT 2:00PM

FEBRUARY 12–14, 19–21 & 26–28

CASSIUS

CLAY

SCHOOL MATINEES: MONDAY – THURSDAY AT 10:00AM

FEBRUARY 1–4, 2016 TUESDAYS – FRIDAYS AT 10:00AM

FEBRUARY 9–26, 2016 TICKETS: ADULTS STUDENTS, SENIORS & MILITARY MHM MEMBERS, GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE

A PLAY BY

IDRIS GOODWIN

SCHOOL GROUP RATE*

$18 $14 $12 $8

*ONE FREE ADULT ADMISSION WITH 20 STUDENTS RUN TIME 70 MINUTES APPROPRIATE FOR ADULTS AND KIDS 8 AND UP

THE MAKING OF

MUHAMMAD

TO BOOK SCHOOL GROUPS, CONTACT: RON JAMES 314.932.7414 X105 OR RON@METROPLAYS.ORG OR VISIT WWW.METROPLAYS.ORG

ALI AT THE

LINDELL AND DEBALIVIERE IN FOREST PARK Based on the early life of Muhammad Ali in Jim Crow Louisville, the play tells the story of a young man who believes his potential is unlimited despite the segregation and racism he is surrounded by. With the help of his boxing coach, a white police officer, Cassius fulfills his dreams. But through the course of the play, he comes to understand there are more important things than personal success – he must also use his gifts to work for the good of his community.

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ABOUT METRO THEATER COMPANY Since 1973, Metro Theater Company has created compelling theater and education programs to foster stronger communities of critical thinkers and to promote social growth. As the only professional Theater for Young Audiences in St. Louis with national and international acclaim, Metro Theater Company provides professional theater experiences for all audiences to create opportunities for reflection, insight and conversation.

THE CASSIUS PROJECT THE CASSIUS PROJECT is a region-wide initiative built around Metro Theater Company’s February 2016 production of Idris Goodwin’s new play AND IN THIS CORNER...CASSIUS CLAY at the Missouri History Museum. In the past year, tensions have been high as St. Louis struggles with racial and economic inequity, strained relationships with law enforcement and disenfranchised youth unsure of their role in our community. Through the story of young Cassius Clay Jr. (Muhammad Ali) and his life in Jim Crow Louisville, Kentucky, audiences will gain a deeper understanding of the complex issues that contribute to inequity in our community

through a historical context. Audiences will be inspired by the decision of young Cassius Clay to reach beyond personal success to achieve greater community good. THE CASSIUS PROJECT will offer a series of community programs, wrap-around tools and resources with the production that will educate audiences and then engage and empower them to find ways to get personally involved in making St. Louis a stronger community.

Muhammad Ali and first coach Officer Joe Martin

THE CASSIUS PROJECT OUTCOMES

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL COMMUNITY PARTNERS

With the potential to directly serve more than 11,000 people – over 8,000 of them youth – THE CASSIUS PROJECT presents an opportunity to begin long-term change in St. Louis and address youth disenfranchisement. Specific and measurable goals include:

Aaron Jennings, The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at WUSTL

Maryville University School of Education

Aphidesign

Muhammad Ali Center

The Boeing Company

The Nine Network

Bread and Roses Missouri

Office of Minority Health, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services

Attendance of thousands of youth at performances of AND IN THIS CORNER... CASSIUS CLAY, accompanied by post-performance facilitated dialogue

Cbabi Bayoc, visual artist College of Education at UMSL

Additional partner activities to deepen the conversation about issues of equity in St. Louis

Clark-Fox Family Foundation

Online toolkit to provide information about the play and its historical context; resources and discussion questions for students and parents; curriculum connections and lesson plans for educators; and links to volunteer and education opportunities in the region and throughout the state for youth to take a personal role in strengthening St. Louis

Diversity In Action

Cultural Leadership

Focus St. Louis Harris Stowe State University HEC TV

Classroom curriculum to support character education and curricular understanding, leading up to and following the production

Old North Restoration Group Parkway School District St. Louis All City Boxing Speak Up Productions Urban Strategies ...And school districts across the St. Louis region

Jim Ousley, Drink & Ink Comics

Interactive “Superhero” comic book for students to focus their own special abilities, and to realize that their lives matter and they can make a difference Community honoree initiative, ST. LOUIS SUPERHEROES, to celebrateindividuals across the St. Louis region who are inspiring others through their efforts on behalf of our community

Firecracker Press/Central Print

Missouri History Museum

Joshua Temple, Team USA Boxing Heavyweight Champion The Kwame Foundation Marlene Davis, 19th Ward Alderwoman Partner list current as of printing 11/20/15

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

pg.

There’s a day for giving thanks (Thanksgiving), There’s a day for getting deals (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), and now there’s a day to give #repTheBlackRep tomorrow by giving a contribution online to help continue producing great art! theblackrep.org

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Does

Racism Live

HERE

Does Racism Live Here? Rhetoric versus Reality of College and University Culture Dr. Tracey McCarthy, Psy.D., DCFC, J.D., M.A. Professor of Psychology and Legal Studies

-Fair Exchange is No RobberyFollowing the University of Missouri at Columbia (Mizzou), students of every demographic across the country - from Missouri to California to the eastern states - were emboldened to finally speak truth to administrative, executive board, and faculty power by demanding fair exchange for their billions in tuition dollars and invaluable time. The student demands have been simple; they want fair student treatment across the board. Equitable treatment means providing all enrolled college students with evenhanded and unbiased college educations, opportunities, services, rights, privileges, and protections – in and out of the classroom. Having worked in four college and university settings, in both student affairs and academic services, for 25 years, I can attest to the fact that all enrolled students are not afforded equitable college experiences. As the first African American female faculty to earn tenure and promotion to full professor at Webster University, in its 100-year history, I can also attest to the fact that the treatment of full time African American faculty and the treatment of African American faculty candidates in the professorate are far from anything resembling equitable and inclusive. As a university environment is merely a microcosm of the larger society, some students are treated more or less favorably than others and the needs of some students are prioritized or minimized in relation to other students. This includes a dynamic whereby the cultures, histories, and needs of some student demographics are marginalized, while the cultures, histories, and needs of other student demographics are central and given precedence. Due to cultural imperialism, when “ethnic minority” students attend historically black colleges and universities such students are still embedded in learning environments that are prone to centralize and disproportionately legitimize narrations, cultures, and realities that are not historically black. African American students are typically recruited into historically predominantly white academic institutions by colleges and universities putting forth a strong diversity and equity front prior to admissions. Many of these same students, however, quickly realize that such inclusion rhetoric and propaganda were just that during their first week in class, in the dormitories, in the cafeteria, and on the campus yard at the start of the fall semester. Colleges and universities parade out their token African American students, token African American faculty, and token African American staff to manipulate the perceptions of diversity, equity, and inclusion on campuses. After admission, however, many students quickly realize that what they experienced was the old seller’s “bait and switch.” By and large, even the multiple diverse faces on the college marketing brochures and online websites are mere token images and may not even be actual members of a campus community. Oftentimes, African American students do not generally grasp the truth behind the marketing images at predominantly white colleges and universities until they find themselves the

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only African American student in multiple classes - where they stand out like a butterfly in buttermilk. This illumination is followed by many African American students realizing that the 1,2,3,4, or 5 African American faculty they may have encountered during the college “sell” are the only full time African American faculty on the campus, and such are often not even teaching in the student’s academic discipline. The epiphanies continue as African American students have trouble finding “themselves” or have trouble finding welcoming cultural and social spaces on campus. Given the dearth of African American faculty on most campuses, many African American students also quickly discover that finding a mentor and cultural role model, who has walked in similar academic, professional, and social shoes is seemingly impossible. After being treated to a steady diet of preadmissions fantasy of inclusion and equity, many African American students are completely blindsided when the macrocosm of the “real” world presents itself with abandon on the college and university campus. Being singled out by faculty and staff for “special” treatment, being called derogatory names by peers, being threatened by staff or administration, being marginalized and ostracized, and being regarded as little more than inconvenient-revenue-generating-truths are the eye openers that strike many naïve African American college students squarely in their adolescent and young adult idealism about the “real” world. Then, it hits them…the ultimate revelation…they actually paid for this (and continue to pay for this), in time, money, and rejection of other academic and social opportunities. All African American college student protest tends to come on the heels of this jarring revelation. -The College DreamWhen parents and young people envision the young person going to college, the dream is often one of the young person growing academically, developing socially and professionally, finding one’s life niche, learning to live on one’s own, honing one’s gifts and talents, finding one’s intellectual passion, developing leadership skills, awakening one’s soul, and preparing for vocation and a possible family. Stimulating classes, dorm rooms, cafeteria food, care packages, sporting events, college parties, cramming for tests, volunteering, writing papers, dating, meeting new friends, and being mentored by caring faculty and staff tend to top the thoughts of what four years of the collegiate experience will consist. Very often, this is the experience of many college students. The following, however, rarely tops the 18-year-old or 45-year-old college “I have a dream” theme… Racial threats and epithets, hunger strikes, nooses hanging, sit-ins, administrative building take overs, the silent treatment, marginalization, racist graffiti, slurs, protest marches, harassment, boycotts, hostile environments, taking to the streets, paying to be abused and used, antagonistic educators, demonstrations, threatened expulsions, incessant campus diversity conversations, workshops, and conferences about equity and inclusion in the absence of their actuality, lack of voice and representation, walkouts, confederate flags, lists of demands, undercurrents of tension, distractions from actual school work, and local or campus police interventions and arrests.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

DOES RACISM LIVE HERE? cont.

Whether such tops the dreamed vision or not, such is the lived reality of many African American students on college campuses today. For many African American students who have elected to spend their collegiate careers at predominantly white institutions, the standard college experience expectation – that African American students share with their European American cohorts - is often found to be little more than a pipe dream perpetuated by colleges and universities and the mainstream media. Too often, African American students who make it through high school and into college find college to be less than hospitable and, often, downright hostile, growth thwarting, marginalizing, intellectually disingenuous and distracting, and abusive. This results in significant disillusionment, angst, and a notable drop out or failed completion rate. Is this what any student or parent actually spends from $50,000.00 – $150,000.00 to experience? Are colleges and universities actually right in taking such in exchange for what is actually given to many African American students? What, exactly, do students get for these hefty price tags? As most high school students are told that life success depends on staying in school, many students and families do not delve deeply into what is being “gotten” past the piece of paper expected at the end of the college rainbow. -“Butts in Seats”The fact is that behind all of the rhetoric of diversity, equity, and inclusion, African American students represent little more to most historically white colleges and universities than what are known as “butts in seats.” College and university administrators, faculty, and staff make their livings off of these “butts in seats” and, in actuality, most do not care deeply whether those butts are white, black, yellow, brown, purple, straight, gay, lesbian, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, transgendered, male, female, republican, democrat, or libertarian. Hence, many college administrators and executive boards simply focus on racking up any variety of “butts in seats” and amassing the tuition dollars that those “butted seats” bring. For many colleges and universities, incoming “green” is more important than either white or black in terms of admissions. Hence, “butts in seats” are often increased by heavy recruiting of so-called “diverse students” who do not fit the standard historical mold at an institution. This heavy diversity recruiting, while increasing diverse “butts in seats,” is done with little or no forethought beyond a focus on dollars and cents and on making campus administrators look good for “growing” diversity that they have no knowledge on how to manage or develop. This “butts in seats” diversity strategy means that many African American, dark brown African, dark brown Caribbean, and dark brown Hispanic or Latino students are recruited and herded into colleges and universities which have a dearth or faculty and staff in appropriate positions to support such dark brown “diversity” and globalization initiatives. -“Racism Lives Here”A University of Missouri student photojournalist presented a collage of photos showing the Mizzou student protest in pictorial form. Among other things that stood out was the depiction of the postings in Jesse Hall stating, “Racism Lives Here.” Such postings and assertions might shock the consciences of uninformed academic and non-academic onlookers, but such is the ever-present pink elephant in the room at colleges and universities in the United States.

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Mizzou is really no different from the average historically white academic institution of higher education, whether such is state, private, or parochial. Forgetting that the college campus is a microcosm, many students, parents, and community members also forget the imperialistic necessity of racism in academia. Yes, “imperialistic necessity.” Simply put, many African American students invest in an academic commodity without fully understanding the product in which they are investing. Colleges and universities are both capitalistic and imperialistic in functioning. In neither structure are African Americans slated to collectively do well. Therefore, while colleges and universities, undoubtedly, value tuition revenue, such does not automatically translate into authentically valuing the diverse students creating that revenue. Simply because a student is paying massive tuition dollars to an institution, such does not mean that the institution values the humanity of that student or that student’s overall developmental needs. Colleges and universities, by their very nature, are intellectual and behavioral systems of imperialism and mental colonization and capitulation. Therefore, in attending college, one learns rules about social order and place, while studying various disciplines. Depending upon where one culturally fits in the system of imperialism advanced by a particular college or university, the college experience may feel growth inspiring or completely demoralizing. Is that, however, what any students enroll in college for…to be diminished? One of the prime imperialistic imperatives is that of pushing an agenda of racial inferiority and superiority, based upon arbitrary definitions of race and similarly arbitrary skin color demarcations. As educational systems are the principal inculcators of cultural imperialism, it should be no shock to anyone that college administrators, boards, faculty, staff, and students - of all demographics - serve as the mainstay of proliferating racism (and the internalization of such) through society’s academic institutions. There is, however, an equally pressing imperative to pretend that such is not the case. Even as college campus administrators currently scramble to avoid the “Mizzou Misfortune,” the issue of overarching imperialism and systematic racism in academia are danced around in the countless campus community conversations which are now rampant. The fact is that Racism, Indeed, Lives Here, but the tacit charge is to create the delusion-inducing illusion that such is not the fact. Many faculty, staff, and students simply refuse to admit that the emperor is, in fact, wearing not a stitch of clothing. The simultaneous teaching and denial of this hypocritical reality on college campuses is what sparks the consciousness which sparks the public protestations by students. -College Campus 101: What Really Happens on Campus?While college brochures are replete with advertisements showing colleges to be the nirvana of life experiences, and the places where social acceptance and support will be plentiful, many college students quickly discover that, in spite of advertising rhetoric and images of diversity and inclusion, not all students will be able to equally access the support and acceptance touted. Generally speaking, in a predominantly white academic environment, the more a student varies from what is considered white, male, straight, protestant or catholic, and middle to upper class, the more likely a student is to experience a less than utopian college experience, both in and out of the classroom.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

DOES RACISM LIVE HERE? cont.

In fact, the more a student varies from what is considered the â&#x20AC;&#x153;mainstream,â&#x20AC;? the more a student is likely to find the college experience marginalizing and disrespecting, versus exhorting and inviting. The more a student varies from the majority of the professorate at any academic institution, the more a student can expect to have a collegiate experience that is not only less than optimal but one that is discouraging, intimidating, ostracizing, dispiriting, soul destroying, and intellectually and socially stagnating. When students see a dearth of their demographic along any dimension among the total professorate of an academic institution, such is the unspoken declaration by the professorate, itself, that the minority demographic is intentionally excluded (and undesired) among its academic family. In other words, if the school a prospective student is visiting on a college tour is sorely lacking in African Americans, Asians, Hispanics or Latinos, females, males, republicans, democrats, Europeans, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, etc. such is very likely an outgrowth of those demographic groups being excluded from the professorate at that institution. Such is not typically coincidental; such is generally systematic. -The Faculty Factor: Behind the Closed Doors of the Ivory TowerWhile college and university faculty are the primary voices tending to teach liberalism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom, at professional conferences, and in faculty meetings, such are also the stronghold of the culture of marginalizing and discriminating imperialism against which so many of them rail. The professorate, by its very demographic makeup in the United States, speaks directly to that which is actually valued among the professorate, among college administrations, and among executive board members. Since action speaks louder than marketing words, it is clear that what is valued at most colleges and universities is neither equity nor inclusion of those traditionally marginalized, underserved, and unvoiced. What students, parents, and much of the public do not fully grasp is that it has historically been the unspoken job of the professorate, regardless of rhetoric to the contrary, to be the driving instruments of imperialism, exclusion, closeted conservatism, and marginalization of various cultural groups in the academy. This is the case whether such cultural groups be among the student body, the staff, or among the actual professorate. In this way, the professorate serves as the ultimate vanguard and preserver of the very hegemony much of the professorate publically bemoans, yet privately advances with unmatched vigor and rigor. Students often complain regarding seeing a glaring lack of African American faculty on their historically white college campuses, but fail to perform diligence in determining why this dearth exists in the first place. One reason is that the very professorate responsible for administering doctoral programs systematically excludes African American students from their admissions, systematically limits African American enrollments, and systematically fails to provide admitted doctoral students with the overall support needed for doctoral students to be successful in the program and after graduation. With lower numbers of doctoral student graduates, there are lower numbers of African American doctoral level faculty candidates available. The professorate, in turn, uses this educator-created dearth to explain the professorateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic refusal to hire the qualified African American faculty candidates which do, indeed, exist.

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In fact, the professorate will then insist that it needs to hire only, or largely, “qualified” whiteEuropean American faculty to teach diverse students the depth and breadth of African American literature, African American history, African American health, African American economics, African American womanhood, African American language, African American music, African American family relations, African American manhood, African American struggles and triumphs, African American psychology, African American childhood, African American slavery, African American sexuality, Black Nationalism, Pan Africanism, African American religion, African American dance, African American politics, African American values, and critical race theory. This is part of the overall exclusionary hiring scheme used by colleges and universities in faculty selection processes. The processes generally appear benign on the surface, only to hide the arbitrarily discriminatory hiring and selection processes unfolding behind the scenes. By and large, faculty drive the faculty search processes at colleges and universities. Departmental faculty tend to request faculty lines (hires) for their departments. Faculty tend to draw up the job descriptions and job requirements for the positions advertised. Faculty sort through the faculty applicant vitas (resumes) to select preliminary candidates to bring to campus. Faculty structure and conduct the interview processes. Faculty receive input from others on campus, but faculty ultimately cast the deciding votes for candidate selection and offers of faculty hire. Hence, what complaining students are failing to understand is that the very professors their tuition dollars fund are also the very academic entities who have systematically structured the faculty selection and hiring processes to exclude the very faculty that many African American students are demanding to provide more culturally competent teaching, culturally competent mentoring, and culturally competent role modeling. Generally speaking, many faculty are more concerned with a “good fit” between themselves and the potential faculty member versus the overall developmental needs of the students. Faculty also tend to be more concerned with acquiring high numbers of faculty members in their respective departments than such are concerned with determining the greatest institutional need for new faculty hires and placements. Because of this academic hiring culture, when African American faculty are hired, such hires are generally tied to language of affirmative action, diversity, and the like. These hires also often come on the heels of student protestations. Students, however, do not understand how the demand for African American faculty as the primary selection criteria further serves to marginalize and discredit African American faculty who are hired only to serve what becomes a tokenizing agenda for administration, executive boards, and the faculty-at-large. Because colleges and universities tend to not only be hostile to the needs of African American students but also to the needs of African American faculty and staff, African American faculty are frequently brought in to serve political diversity and affirmative action strategies, only to be unsupported and terminated leading up to tenure and initial promotion. This opens up “replacement” faculty lines which faculty can then fill with the non-African American faculty members previously planned. This Machiavellian strategy of the ends justifying the means has commonly served to derail, or completely destroy, many academic careers of young African American scholars with

CONTINUED ON pg. 26

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

DOES RACISM LIVE HERE? cont.

doctorates. A similar dynamic has been noted in relation to women scholars in certain fields, in relation to certain Latino scholars, and in relation to certain Asian scholars. They are treated as “diversity artifacts” to be discarded when their utility has expired. Some scholars are also bullied or mobbed by faculty colleagues and administrators until they determine to leave on their own. Because of this pervasive dynamic perpetuated by the professorate, itself, the diverse students that historically white colleges and universities draw in rarely have consistent exposure to long term, diverse, fulltime faculty, mentors, and role models. In protesting, African American students, however, rarely confront their actual college faculty about this issue because most are led to believe that the problems with equity and inclusion rest mainly on the shoulders of the administrators and the executive boards. -What’s the Purpose? What’s the Goal?While student protest is an education unto itself, is that the thing for which students, families, and governments are paying when students enroll in college? While “taking it to the streets” has growth in leadership written all over it, should this be the focus of students who are often already struggling to complete schoolwork required for continued matriculation and graduation? While lifting every voice and making constant demands to be heard and righted has been deemed a foundation of the facilitation of social justice, is that really the job of a paying student? When selecting the “right” college, students and parents need to do more homework than simply touring college campuses, spending the night in the dorms, sitting in on classes, meeting with preselected students, faculty and staff, and reading highly propagandized college brochures created to peak consumer interest and investment. Students and parents need to do more than listen to language of diversity and inclusion and safety at academic institutions. Statistics of diversity and inclusion are misleading and can be manipulated to tell whatever story the provider of the statistics desires to render. What is often missed in understanding the climate of an academic institution is the underlying meaning of the presence of college or university “diversity artifacts.” Most college and university diversity artifacts, contrary to what the mind might be led to believe, are actually pieces of evidence that all is not right in the institution for the group or groups which are highlighted. If an institution has to create entire academic programs and departments to highlight the study of a particular social demographic that has been historically marginalized, then what that tells a prospective student and parent is that the overall curriculum of an institution is lacking in scholarly authenticity and fullness. When a college or university has diversity officers and executives, such is yet another harbinger of equity and inclusion problems unresolved. If an organization needs to brag about minority enrollments, minority retention, and minority related awards, such is often merely a process of diverting attention away from what is neither brag worthy nor inspiring. When a school has to constantly explain its dearth of particular social groups among its faculty, the explanations are generally reflective of fictions that have been repeated so long that many faculty and administrators have started to believe such. Students and parents have to learn to

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accept the fact that if African American faculty are unwanted or marginalized at an institution, African American students can really expect no better treatment in the long run. -College: Only as Good as its GardenIf students from a particular cultural group have a history of begging college administrators for faculty that look like them or that share their cultural values and cultural experiences, such a school is not likely the best overall garden for that student’s overall growth. If students from a particular cultural group have to stage sits-ins, walk outs, classroom disruptions, and block campus streets in protest, such an institution may not be the best overall garden for those students. Students and parents must begin to look at potential colleges and universities as “gardens” and students as “flowers” who will potentially be planted in such colleges and university gardens for the span of four years. The question, then, that students and parents need to start asking themselves and these potential institutions is “How will this overall campus environment (garden) and experience impact this specific student (flower), overall?” Before getting to this question, however, students and parents need to ask themselves what the student’s goal happens to be for attending college? What is the student’s personal life mission and vision? What does the student need in order to perform optimally in college in terms of both academics and campus culture? What type of campus will foster health-inspiring growth in the student? What type of environment will provide a solid foundation for holistic growth for the student? What type of faculty does the student need to be exposed to for the best mentoring and role modeling? What types of other flowers in the college garden does the student need to be surrounded by in order to best develop academically, socially, spiritually, and professionally? In addition to asking whether the particular academic “garden” will assist the student in learning something specific about the world, one needs to ask whether the school is best equipped to assist the student in understanding himself or herself in the context of their own cultural legacy and values. These are not questions that only African American students and parents need to ask themselves; these are questions that students and parents from all walks of life need to ponder. Following the aforementioned line of questioning and honest reflecting, students and parents need to also be clear and honest about what types of “gardens” are likely to make the student wilt, whither, and perish. Unless a school is offering a unique college benefit, a unique degree, a unique vocational network, or a unique financial inducement that cannot be had anywhere else, students and parents need to focus more on what type of social and emotional “garden” a school environment is going to provide for the student. There are assertions that African American student attendance at historically black colleges and universities is isolating and non-comporting with the “real world” African American students will “have” to encounter once they leave college and enter the job market. These sentiments and complaints generally come from those who are staunch supporters of imperialism. As experienced by many European American students at predominantly white academic institutions, many African American students would immeasurably benefit from being in culturally sensitive, culturally inclusive, and authentically supportive college spaces for four years. How many European American parents, after all, would feel it best for their child to spend those same

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

DOES RACISM LIVE HERE? cont.

college years in a historically black or historically Native American Indian college environment? Not many. While historically black colleges and universities are generally not “all black” in student makeup, staff, or faculty, such academic spaces will tend to give a large number of African American students the comfort, stability, and grounding to do their best academic work - free of the distraction of being and feeling marginalized, feeling and being ostracized, and feeling and being invisible and unvoiced. Make no mistake, historically black colleges and universities are still a part of the imperialism paradigm. Such, however, provide a temporary space for many African American students to ease into the full adult implications of operating in a culture of imperialism on one’s own after college. There are no perfect colleges or universities, as there are no perfect people. Some college and university “gardens” are, however, better for the souls and life paths of certain “flowers” than others. Accordingly, after students and parents finish considering academic majors and minors, geographic locales, and the overall cost of a four year education, students and parents need to count up the emotional and social costs and benefits of the student attending a particular institution. This is where actually talking privately to past and current students, faculty, and staff not preselected by the institution - will serve students and parents well. Selecting the right college environment takes time, research, and wisdom. Students and parents should not be so readily swayed by what looks good, versus what actually is good at the core. There is no such thing as a universally good school, only a “best fit” school for a particular student and a particular academic, vocational, and personal purpose. Does any student really want to spend his or her entire college career protesting mistreatment and marginalization? On the contrary, most students would likely prefer to be free to remain focused on studying their academic discipline, performing their personal best, getting the mentoring they need, and preparing for a meaningful career? While African Americans have been long cast as the champions of social justice, such a perpetual college campus focus is exhausting and distracting for African American students. As with others, African American students should be able to experience four years of college that are not incessantly entrenched in fighting the so-called “good fight” on the vulnerable front lines of the social justice battle in the Ivory Tower. The time that African American students spend drawing up lists of demands, could be time spent studying. The time spent marching, could be time spent developing a project to assist the local or global community. The time spent bemoaning the dearth of African American faculty, could be time spent in environments that already support African American faculty who support African American students. The time spent complaining of not being heard, could be time spent preparing one’s presentation for class where one will be heard. The time and money spent on an academic space that is less than optimal, on a soul level, could be time and money better spent at an institution that has a long history of dedication to bringing out the best in African American students in the midst of a general societal space that is less likely to do so.

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The protests, sit-ins, demonstrations, strikes, and demands are not the problem; the problem is that faculty, staff, administrators, and boards at many institutions of higher learning insist on fighting to maintain the legacy of haves and have nots, of in-groups and out-groups, and of marginalized and centered. Such are also often deeply invested in the perpetuation of social hierarchies that arbitrarily place certain groups of humans above other groups of humans. Some faculty, staff, administrators, and executive board members are, likewise, dedicated to making certain that only a certain telling of history is advanced, that only certain understandings of human functioning are accepted, and that only certain renditions of the culture of the human family are told. Moreover, many faculty, staff, administrators, and executive board members are determined to make certain that only those that look like them, think like them, feel like them, and reason like them are allowed the ability to make meaning of the world as we have been told to know it. Hegemony, not intellectual and social growth of the masses, is the prime directive in the minds and motives of many members of the academy. Simply put, many faculty, staff, administrators, and executive boards believe that students they have disserved and marginalized should pay thousands of dollars to fund historically hegemonic Ivory Tower strongholds that make empty promises of inclusion and equity which may never be delivered. To be relegated to the educational sidelines is one thing; to pay tuition for the displeasure is yet another. A college or university is a “garden” and racism and other social ills reproduce more in some “gardens” than in others. Therefore, the challenge for students and families is to find the “gardens” which promote the most holistic growth. While there are no college spaces devoid of social ills, students and families should find campus “gardens” that least lend themselves to soils of maladjustment and ongoing political discontent. Racism Lives Here… N.B. Dr. Tracey McCarthy, a psychologist and attorney, is a tenured professor at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she is also an alum. All opinions contained herein, however, are completely those of Dr. McCarthy. Accordingly, Dr. McCarthy is in no way speaking on behalf of Webster University nor is she representing any opinion or position of Webster University.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Book of Poetry by

Lenard D. Moore

th on 30 iti d Ed ite ry Lim ersa niv

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

pg.

Way Black in Time pt. 7 The Black Archaeologist Web Series. This week on Black Archaeologist.com, YouTube:TechNubian1, Lamberton1 Facebook: Black Archaeologist Group And I Love Black Archaeologist DVD’s at http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00ZZ3K6F&PP=1

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MO TO W N pg.

was not Everything!

t amazes me to hear people who like to listen to or remember music from the 60’s and 70’s always refer to Motown or the Motown Sound. I love the Motown Sound and the music they made and continue to make. I knew most of the acts that recorded for the label in that period, but there was so much more. And the struggles that Motown and other minority owned labels endured is rarely acknowledged. James Brown recorded for King Records, Wilson Pickett for Atlantic Records, Aretha Franklin for Columbia and Atlantic, and Fontella Bass for Chess, Little Milton Campbell for Checker Records, Joe Tex for Dial, Barbara Mason for Arctic, The Larks for Money Records, Alvin Cash for MarVelous, Gene Chandler for Vee Jay, Mercury and Constellation and the list goes on and on. My experiences are in the music and communication business. I am the former Midwest promotion Director for MCA and ABC Record companies, a former Stax and Four Brothers recording artist, a former producer for CBS Records and with my wife, Uvee Hayes, owner of Mission Park Record Company. I am also a veteran of 60 years of radio and television broadcasting and a columnist for a local Black owned newspaper. This story begins in the 1980s with the sale of Motown Records, a once black-owned record company, to MCA Records and Boston Ventures Limited Partnership. The African American community felt a great loss of one of its cherished institutions. Around that same period it seemed like war had been declared against the survival of black-owned record companies. Solar Records was involved in a suit, counter-suit with Warner Brothers Records for control of its assets. Sussex Records, a once fast growing black-owned record company, was forced to cease doing business for tax reasons. Philadelphia International Records, a quality black-owned record company, was under the distribution control, lifeline to its financial survival, of CBS Records (also known as Columbia Records).

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

At MCA and ABC the Black Music Division companie’s profits, but was allocated only

We had to show receipts for meals and ex usually offer receipts. When a Dee Jay wa food restaurant in the inner city, chances a on a paper bag and accounting would not Black music division had cultural issues th

Music is certainly a huge component of the treatment of Blacks and women was unco not yet level.

The dominance of recorded black music is The hidden agenda may have been the clo development of full service (production, m record companies in America. Had this occ possible that black record companies wou percentage of the music business, compet

The battle to control market share can bes of Stax Records. In the 1970s, it was the la company in the music industry. Stax artists Otis Redding, Al Green, Rufus and Carla T MGs, and more. It also had a jazz label, bl label where such artists as: Bill Cosby, Ric launched their careers.

This era paralleled the turbulent 60s, with climate being fueled by the black Consciou Peace Movement. The financial profits gen phenomenal success of black films and so businesses to be closely monitored.

Stax Records reached several peaks with The live concert of Stax artists in the Los A hundred and twelve thousand black people same event that was seen worldwide, and technique at the time, video production.

The success continued when Isaac Hayes for best original film score for “Shaft.” This companies (Stax, Sussex, Motown) had th record companies, not to be left behind, sa to control the lucrative black music market

In the 40’s and 50’s music was segregated of the South. Record companies had label records,” and black artists were limited to w circuit; clubs and venues that catered to “c companies realized there was money to be customers.

The term Race Records was a particular te talent. Record companies such as Vocalio to tap into the market and soon began to m Americans who could not hear the music t was born. Race records were such a hit th marketplace. pg.

n generated over 60 percent of the 8 percent for our staff.

xpenses from establishments that did not ants to dine at a Bar B Q house, or a soul are we won’t get a receipt, or it will be written accept it. They did not understand that the he company never dreamed of.

e performing arts, and for many years the onscionable. Even today the playing field is

s in the hands of major record companies. osing of all doorways towards the manufacturing, distribution) black-owned curred, as improbable as it seems today, it is uld have ultimately controlled a larger or equal ting with major record companies.

st be understood by looking into the case argest, most diverse black-owned record s’ roster included such stars as: Isaac Hayes, Thomas, The Staple Singers, Booker T. & the lues label, gospel label, and even a comedy chard Pryor and Jackie “Moms” Mabley

the social, cultural, political and musical usness Movement and the Viet Nam nerated by black recording artists and the oundtracks caused black entertainment

the overwhelming success of “Wattstax.” Angeles Coliseum attracted some one e, without incident. It produced a film of the d was the first to get into the revolutionary

s, one of Stax top artists, won the Oscar s was during a time when black record he lion’s share of black artists. The major at up, took notice, determined to find a way t and they did.

d, as was the country. Jim Crow was the law led African American recordings as “race working what was known as the “chitlin’ colored” artists and audiences. The recording e made selling music by black artists to black

Bessie Smith was one of the biggest stars on these particular labels. The record companies began themselves to give African American artists’ record deals and by the 50s, race labels became unnecessary, but blacks were segregated in the marketplace by placing their product on special R&B charts and keeping the records out of the mainstream. The music charts reflected the changes from R&B to pop. The term ‘crossover’ was not that well known, and the terminology was not that well defined. Crossover in the music business simply meant that one genre would or could be played on a radio station or music program that does not usually play that particular type of music. Some thought that “crossover” artists were stealing the music and threatening the integrity of the business. Of course, crossover is important to us in terms of airplay for African American artists because it insures a larger audience for exposure. True crossover music is music, which happens to sell a lot to urban and top 40 markets. “Crossover,” means a greatly expanded audience. Crossover music has been a big item in the music industry since the 1950s, but in the 1960s, white Americans heard more and fell in love with soul music, by means of listening to the many African American radio stations emerging across the country. St. Louis played a vital part in exposing the music to white listeners of Soul radio stations such as KATZ, KWK, KXLW, KKSS and WESL. Stax, Motown and Atlantic Records as well as the many independent black companies contributed to the trend. This is when the white ‘crossover’ or ‘blue-eyed soul’ artists appeared, such as The Righteous Brothers, Van Morrison and Carole King. During this period, especially in the 1950’s, it was widespread in the industry for a white artist to cover a song that had originally been recorded by a black artist. These recordings usually were not as good as the original but it was the white artist’s version that would be promoted by the disc jockeys and the record companies. Crossover had always happened between black and white musicians. Crossover composers, musicians and artists were always undergoing crossover eagerness. Although music unions were segregated usually the bond between black and white musicians was strong Some Black artists were played on white stations before the occurrence of crossover crept into the industry. Louis Armstrong, The Ink Spots, Billie Holiday, The Mills Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Count Basie were played because they amused and entertained whites. The 1950’s R&B artists and rock & roll performers and early 1960’s music explosion was an entire different story. Blues, boogie-woogie, jazz, swing, and Negro gospel were the targets of the music moguls, and apparently, they have won. So you see, Motown wasn’t everything. Bernie Hayes

erm given to the labels that recorded Negro on, Columbia, Okeh, and Paramount wanted market these special labels to Africanthey loved and wanted to hear. A new genre hat other record companies entered the

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TheVillageCelebration radio show Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. on www.thevillagecelebration.com.

Call in at 1-855-525-5683

pg.

S.L .A .M.

St. Louis Art Museum

ART COLLECTIONS

EXHIBITS

EVENTS

Admission to the Museum is free every day. Hours:

Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm

Friday, 10:00 am–9:00 pm

Closed Monday

w w w. s l a m . o r g One Fine Arts Drive - Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63110-1380 314.721.0072

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Join Afro World in celebrating the Holiday season!!

ot a Secret!” “Shh...Santa’s G

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20% off purchase with AD... Afrocentric clothing for Men, Women & Children • African Fabric • Kwanzaa Supplies Christmas Cards 2016 African Calendars • Unique Gift Items & Much More.

pg.

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Rebuilding

black lives: Adolphus M. Pruitt, II President St. Louis NAACP

he recessions & financial crises have hurt the poor and socially marginalized populations the most. As we face the prospect of persistent black poverty we must consider the merits of various types of stimulus packages for St. Louis’s impacted populations. The fact of the matter is that by the end of 2008 African Americans had experienced the “Greatest Loss of Wealth” in modern U.S. History. And while the rest of the country seems to be in financial recovery, the same can’t be said for the black neighborhoods in north St. Louis city and county. According to economists at the St. Louis Fed, these black neighborhoods are still suffering from the impacts. Black Community is Hemorrhaging With anticipated ‘Population Growth’ - estimates show that people of color will have the greatest growth rates in the St. Louis Region from 2010 through 2040; and the growing racial generation age gap between black youth and seniors which has consistently grown over the past thirty years; include persistent higher rates of black unemployment; and the significantly high percentages of disconnected black youths that don’t currently have jobs and are not enrolled in primary or secondary education; is equivalent to the body hemorrhaging. Which is one of the most serious consequences of trauma and usually require rapid medical attention. Black Community in Permanent Recession The poverty rates in the black community is also growing, the rate of African Americans in high-poverty is double the rate of the next largest group. Which has also attributed to the fact that the African American population in black neighborhoods are highly disadvantaged due to the lack of access to a vehicle, which reduces access to education and work, increases the rates of disconnected black youths and the unemployment rates; reinforcing the correlation between violent crime rates and socioeconomic disadvantage in a region with a $132 billion local economy. Economic Base Theory Economic base theory holds that for black neighborhoods to prosper they must have income, which will be primarily derived from the wages that the people whom live there earn. If this does not happen they will continue to suffer from adverse outcomes such as poor education attainment, poor health outpg.

Building a Stadium

comes, high crime, etc. What black neighborhoods need is what all of America needs: a stimulus package that will help average African Americans and those with the most insecure jobs. African Americans in these impacted neighborhoods would receive the most gains if their wages increased by at least 75 percent. And one sure fire way to do that, especially for disconnected black youth and ex-offenders, is the creation of high-paying construction jobs with workforce goals requiring their participation.

alone.

The construction of a new stadium; followed by the construction of a new NGA; both in north St. Louis would create roughly 8,150 construction jobs and $1.4 billion in construction wages. With a solid “Workforce Inclusion Plan” targeting populations residing in the Promise Zone; coupled with stringent enforcement & monitoring could put $185 million in wages in their pockets; $44-63 million from stadium construction

Trust But Verify Despite local, state and federal guidelines, policies, and interventions, fulfilling participation goals have continually lagged and the losses to minority and women enterprises and workers have escalated. Minority and women owned enterprises loss $869 Million in state participation between 1999-2014; $92 Million in St. Louis City participation between 2007-2012; $145 Million in MSD participation between 2007-2012; $307 Million in MoDOT participation between 2005-2009; and $14 Million in STL Community College participation between 2008-2013. Between 2000 - 2008 the City incentivized $2.5 Billion in activity ($1.7 Billion in the 6th ward alone), the estimated losses in minority participation exceeded $475 million. Such discrimination have a direct effect on minority workers, it also results in less opportunity for minorities and women to accumulate business start-up capital, and acquiring the very skills, and experience to start their own businesses. The disparities reflect more than mere “societal discrimination,” they demonstrate the nexus between discrimination in the job market and reduced entrepreneurial opportunities for minorities and women. Consistent with other evidence reported in the disparity studies, the information strongly suggests continue discriminatory barriers to full and fair access to public and private sector contracts; access to commercial loans; surety bonds, and insurance; discrimination in hiring workers from union hiring halls; discrimination in obtaining pricing from suppliers or subcontractors; and harassment and hindrance at the work site. Stopping the hemorrhaging in the black community requires job creation, such as building stadiums. The enthusiasm around the inclusion plan for the $1 billion dollar stadium would be well served with respect to insuring inclusion in the $4.7 billion currently being spent by the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District; along with City & State incentivized projects. Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

vvv

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) is working with partners around the region to make sure you are aware of the insurance options that are available under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Open enrollment ends on Jan. 31, 2016.

If you don’t get health insurance coverage through your employer, union or a government‐funded health plan, like Medicare, you can choose an affordable insurance plan on HealthCare.gov that covers everything from doctor and hospital visits to maternity care and prescription drugs. You cannot be denied coverage if you have a pre‐existing condition. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also includes a requirement known as the individual mandate. Most Americans are required to have health insurance or pay a penalty for noncompliance. For tax year 2016, the fine will be $695 (per adult) or 2.5% of taxable income, whichever is greater.

Depending on your income level and household size, you may qualify for subsidies and/or income tax credits. Please share this announcement with your uninsured friends. FREE Presentation for Artists

Navigating Health Care Reform Monday, December 7, 5:30‐6:30 p.m.

Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Co‐presented with Saint Louis University School of Law health law students Do you understand how the HealthCare.gov works? During this workshop our presenters will: • Explain the Affordable Care Act’s rights, protections and requirements, including the individual mandate. • Provide important information for freelancers and the self‐employed. • Define confusing health insurance terminology. • Provide strategies for selecting a plan and acquiring quality and affordable health care coverage, including tax credits and subsidies. • Answer your questions!

This workshop is FREE and open to artists of all disciplines. Guests are welcome. Please register in advance here.

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FREE One‐on‐One Enrollment Assistance Co‐presented with Community Action Agency of St. Louis County

Get unbiased in‐person guidance from trained certified application counselors. The one‐on‐one sessions for Missouri residents will demystify the enrollment process. See if you qualify for subsidies. Compare plan prices and coverage details. Get covered. Renewing coverage? Most people will be able to renew coverage purchased onHealthCare.gov without filing an application or going back to the website. But if your income has changed or you’d like to shop for a better deal or a different plan, we encourage you to make an appointment.

Appointments will be made on a first come, first served basis, and reservations are required. Please contact us (include your date preference and phone number) to make an appointment. At the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar December 9, 4:00‐6:00 p.m. December 12, 10:00 a.m. to Noon

What's the Medicaid Gap?

Most people with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level are eligible for subsidies when they purchase health insurance throughHealthCare.gov. But there was no provision in the ACA for those with incomes under 100% of the poverty level because they were supposed to be covered by Medicaid expansion. Currently, Missouri's Medicaid program does not cover non‐disabled adults without dependent children. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it was up to individual states to determine whether or not to expand their Medicaid programs. Missouri is among the states that have declined to expand coverage. This means that an adult making less than $11,670 annually have to pay full price for insurance onHealthCare.gov, which is clearly unreasonable. The gap leaves Missouri's poorest residents — more than 200,000 people — without an affordable coverage option.

If you are in this low‐income group, note that you will not pay a penalty for not being covered. And you may be able to obtain access to health care by contacting Gateway to Better Health, a program for uninsured adults in St. Louis City and County.Eligible individuals are between the ages of 19 and 64 and earn up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level. Since the federally‐funded program was launched in 2012, it has paid many primary and specialty care visits as well as medications.

THANKS

Our Every Artist Insured campaign is made possible by grant support from theRegional Arts Commission (RAC). RAC is at the forefront of efforts to transform St. Louis into a more vibrant, creative and economically thriving community by elevating the vitality, value and visibility of the arts.

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) serves the arts community by making referrals to lawyers and accountants; mediating arts‐related disputes; publishing concise how‐to guides; sponsoring seminars and public forums; arranging for guest speakers; maintaining a library and website; collaborating on arts advocacy initiatives; and providing access to the national volunteer lawyers for the arts network.

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts 6128 Delmar, St. Louis, MO 63112; 314/863‐6930; vlaa@stlrac.org

www.vlaa.org

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Featured

Poetry

Submission

pg.

Jason Vasser

Big Smoke, the Eighth Wonder of the World Merian Copper1 must have really hated the Big Smoke, so much so that he minstrelled a giant gorilla to climb to the top of the Empire State building, blonde in tow; so white in her dress, like a dove to his crow, that she could be seen in the night sky from below. For little reason the NYPD would stop the speeding Lincoln, gorilla behind the wheel weaving through the city ignoring the rules; imagine the feel of an animal to most, swagger Jack â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lil Artha, The Big Cinder, Galveston Giant, Fresh nigger, they called him Heavyweight champion of the world; with enough peanuts to feed five of the largest bull elephants in their blue without tusks, but imbued with a sense of worthlessness next to the beast, those eager to trample released gorillas, that just refuse to stay caged.

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“Acting White”

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

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Featured Artist Is’Mima Nebt’Kata E-mail: ismima2014@gmail.com

Artist

Submission

Artistic Statement: The Language of Art speaks through an artist when they allow the act of discovery to uncover their traditional and innovative processes. This visual creative journey binds the mind, hands, and heart and captivates the transformation of their chosen medium into manifestations of meaningful shapes and forms. Artistic Process: Is’Mima’s artistic designs illustrate her pursuit and ability to impact interior spaces. She draws and constructs artistic quilts, framed wall hangings, apparel, jewelry and mixed media montages into multicultural or whimsically inspired beings to form abstractly conjured images from her creative spirit and love to explore ancient history. She is guided by instinct, color, shapes and textures to mold or draw and manipulate mainly cloth, leathers, clays or paper drawings into one-of-a-kind low relief sculptures. She also evokes narratives statements or stories that inspires and transcends the viewer. CAREER SYNOPSIS My current portfolio demonstrates my variable skills as a low-relief sculpture artist, a surface pattern designer/decorative artist, an educator and an entrepreneur. I create one-of-kind interior wall hangings as well as fashion garments. I instruct children and adults in art sessions which enhance self esteem and builds upon literary and math skills. I relocated to St.Louis in the spring of 1999 after 20+ years in the Bay Area of Northern California. EXHIBITS 2015 RiverWorks Project, Alton, IL Sun Smith-Foret Curator, Watersheds Carins, Libby Reuter 2015 Salon 53, Freida Wheaton 250 Years Celebration 2014 10th Street Gallery: Patricia & Solomon Thurman: Black History Month 2013 10th Street Gallery: Patricia & Solomon Thurman: Black History Month 2012 City Gallery @Waterfront Park, Charleston, South Carolina Mermaids in Black Folklore 2011 Salon 53 Freida Wheaton Curator 2009 OCEE Overseas Cultural Exchange Exhiibit-Taiwan, Japan, Los Angeles, RAC & St. Louis Science Ctr. 2009 Avery Research Ctr & Florence Museum of Science–Mermaids&Merwomen in Black Folklore–So Carolina 2008 Siteman Cancer Center, Center of Advanced Medicine, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO National Urban League Conference, The America Conference Center, St. Louis, MO 2007 Private Exhibit, Chicago Minority & Business Diversity Council, Chicago, IL Fulton County Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2005 N.A.A.A.A.A.S.G. Conference sponsored by Saint Louis Art Museum at RAC, St.Louis, MO 2005 Southern Illinois University-E.St.Louis Campus, Bldg. D (Permanent Exhibit) 2004 Zuka Artists Guild: Homelessness @ Vaughn Cultural Ctr, St. Louis, MO (permanent exhibit) St. Joseph’s Institute for the Deaf, Chesterfield, MO (permanent exhibit) Jefferson Elementary School, St. Louis, MO 2000 PORTFOLIO GALLERY: The Girlfriend Show, October, St. Louis, MO 2000 ART St. Louis: Sunday in the Studios-15th edition, Ken-Dex Public Artists, October, St. Louis, MO 2000 GATEWAY CLASSICS: Regal Riverfront Hotel, October, St. Louis, MO 2000 HATSHEPSUT GALLERY: Mississippi Osun & Yemonja Blues, March-April, St. Louis, MO 2000 ART St. Louis: VOICES: African American Artists @ New City School, St. Louis, MO 2000 VAUGHN CULTURAL CENTER: Love, Through the Eyes of My Ancestors, St. Louis, MO 1999 VAUGHN CULTURAL CENTER: People & Places in St. Louis, Ken-Dex Public Artists, St. Louis, MO 1998 METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION: African American Artists, Oakland, CA 1998 CITY OF OAKLAND: Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization Program-Office of Economic Development 1997 CITY OF OAKLAND: Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization Program-Office of Economic Development 1997 PRESCOTT-JOSEPH CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT, Oakland, CA

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a R i Ch A Spike Lee film

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f Spike Lee were truly as infused with hubris as he might wish American consumers of film to believe he is, he would have asked two Chicago ministers, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, to pray to their God for the success of Chi-Raq the film and for the end of urban violence in the city of Chicago, code name ShyRack. He did not hesitate to ask Reverend Jackson to pray for the success of School Daze. See the caption and ocular proof in The Films of Spike Lee: Five for Five (New York: Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 1991). 58.. And the film would have been endowed with the blessings of liberation theology and spiritual credibility had he also persuaded Reverend Wright to portray Father Corridan in the film. Wright and Jackson would have given historicized Chicago authenticity to his enterprise, but their involvement also would have prevented Lee from creating Chi-Raq as stereotype-reifying, slapstick pornography. The ministers would have forced him and his actors to burn in flames of tragic rather than comic "truth." Spike Lee is infused with chutzpah. Lee has been in the cinema game too long to waste his juice or to send Hollywood an ISIS message. He is not a fool. Despite his obvious possession of some political consciousness, he is not a radical or an heir of Malcolm X. Like Aristophanes, he is a trickster of the first water. And like the

ancient Greek playwright from whose Lysistrata he borrows theme and surface features, Spike Lee has good entrepreneurial skills. Satirizing the amoral depths of society and pious belief in the sanctity of human life (# All Lives Matter) has commercial value in the world of cinema. Money talks. It sponsors the confusion of shared values in the United States of America. Money reinforces the documented reluctance of many citizens who inhabit ShyRackish territory to enforce communal values, to break silence. To be sure, those citizens are not silent about the debilitating effects of entrenched systemic racism, the mental illness which thugs and police people cultivate, and the production of genocide in the heart of whiteness. They are quite vocal. On the other hand, those who are most vocal about social injustice are most frequently silenced and disappeared by money, mass media, and such films as Chi-Raq. A comedy or comic film in the United States that smells of morality or serious interrogation of political and social issues is damned from the start. It is destined to turn no profit, because (1) the conventions of comedy demand exaggeration and (2) Americans are gluttons for trivia, the bling of nonsense. Abnormality has to be normalized. The comic valorizes a certain degree of vulgarity.

By Jerry Ward

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Click image to

WATCH NOW! pg.

The

Joy

of Giving:

BK Nation Holiday Drive Happy holidays everyone! I pray you and your families are well this holiday season. 2015 has been an incredible and deep year, with so many things happening on our planet. 2016 promises to be more of the same. This is why we at BK Nation do the work we do, around education, around leadership development, around violence prevention (including gender violence), around health and wellness, and more. BK Nation does everything from a massive annual clothing drive for the homeless, to being on the front lines of racial profiling cases, to our upcoming national leadership summit (June 2016), to maintaining BKNation. org, our website and blog space for people of all backgrounds to speak and share ideas, action steps, and solutions that will challenge and change our world. But we cannot do any of this work without minimal support from people like you. We need to raise $10,000 before the Christmas break, in order to start 2016 with basic resources, so I am respectfully asking 100 people to donate at least $100 each AS SOON AS YOU CAN, to this link:

http://tinyurl.com/hvq5om8 And if you can donate more, please do so. We would humbly appreciate that. We are not asking for much, just the basics of what we need to continue to function as an organization and website in service to others. No one on our team is paid, we are all volunteers, but we do this work because we care, and because we are clear it needs to happen. I thank you so much for reading this, and for your donation. It means a lot, and it will help many people. Sincerely,

Kevin Powell

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

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MUST- VIEW New Orleans and HURRICANE KATRINA:

10 Years Later

Click Here to WATCH NOW!

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A BRAND NEW

Language is

EMERGING

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A Brand New Language is Emerging Influencing Social Change

A new language is emerging; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the language of awareness and empowerment. Simmering tensions about race and policing are just beneath the boiling point. Calmer waters are being roiled, sparked with frenetic activism and protests, bubbling over and spilling into the streets. Not quite realizing what to do, residents come out of their homes in droves, joining in with marauders, stunned, angry and spoiling for a fight.

Suddenly an avalanche occurs, alarmed and overwhelmed, increasing numbers of people are reacting to rumors, news reports and social media postings. Racism is at the epicenter, yet the crowds are increasingly multicultural, going back as early as the 1992 riot in Los Angeles, rampaging over the brutal police beating of Rodney King, caught on camera by a young White male. Although protesters throughout the decades remain predominantly Black, a growing number of Whites and other ethnic groups are joining in to voice their disdain against iron-fisted and oppressive police practices.

With the masses becoming more aware, energized and engaged, pint-up emotions are gradually channeled into more coherent and logical strategies usually by venerable civil rights leaders that have the knowledge, skills and expertise to effect social change. The masses represent their power base, which every leader needs.

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Still, there is something to be said about the organic uprising of a critical mass, having their conscience pricked and their eyes opened, forcing even clinched-teeth deniers to no longer look the other way. Many have heard of these problems before or even witnessed them, but they more than likely rationalized, frequently blaming the victim or thinking I’m law abiding so this couldn’t happen to me. But one thing is for certain, it’s hard for law enforcement, (particularly non-Blacks) to know the difference between Black law abiding citizens and Black criminals, particularly in split second decisions. Therefore, most everyone is suspect and possibly targeted. That is why stereotyping is so dangerous.

The rudderless young turks and the more organized veteran protesters may disagree on strategy and style, but they’re umbilically connected. Youthful exuberance may cloud familiarity with history, not fully understanding that it takes a whole host of social, political and economic actors engaged in various and vigorous campaigning to effect social change. Nowadays, one must include the social media technocrats who are able to fan the blogosphere to reach into smartphones and virtually every home that has a computer. Despite the so-called “digital-divide,” many people of color have taken to Facebook, Twitter and other social media like a duck to water. Therefore the rank and file is more informed and aware than ever.

During the civil rights era, 50 or so years ago, SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), the Black Panthers and other youth groups emerged;

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BRAND NEW LANGUAGE cont.

likewise, younger activists (post-Ferguson) have morphed into more structured and purposeful groups such as Black Lives Matter.

Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Sandra Bland are some of the more notable African American victims elevated to martyrdom. They join legions of others who have met the terrible fate of being Black in America. Some describe the history of police in the Black community as stemming from the slave patrols that monitored and enforced discipline upon slaves, regulating virtually every part of their lives. Some liken it to a police state, an occupied force, arbitrary, capricious and brutal.

Now with student protests on campuses around the country objecting to racism and insensitivity, we can conclude that we’re in full- blown post-civil rights mode. Many have been reminded that “freedom ain’t free” – that one must keep the pressure on and not let up to insure democratic rights and fairness are upheld for every resident, particularly in a country that prides itself on “exceptionalism.” Because without vigilance, backlash will rear its ugly head and conditions are almost certain to return to the seemingly normalized yet racist status quo.

Slogans, short and striking, have proliferated signifying this heightening of awareness, such as: • “I can’t breathe,” protesting 43-year old Eric Garner’s chokehold suffocation death July 2014 in New York.

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• “Hands up, don’t shoot” representing the murder of teenager Michael Brown, 18, last year in August in Ferguson, Missouri. •

In Cleveland, 12 year-old Tamir Rice, shot dead November 2014 within two

seconds of police arrival. Protesters chanted the age-old “no justice, no peace.” •

Sloganeering ran the gamut, but the most aptly put was: “Back turned, don’t

shoot” regarding the police murder of Walter Scott, 50, in North Charleston, South Carolina, shot in the back this year in April as he tried to escape being apprehended. •

“All night, all day, we’re gonna fight for Freddie Gray!” protesting Freddie Gray,

25, who died April this year in police custody in Baltimore. •

The strange death July 2015 of Sandra Bland, 28, in a Waller County Texas jail

outside of Houston, has the hashtag, #IfIDieInCustody.” The place where she was stopped for a minor traffic offense in the town of Hempstead has been described as “racism from the cradle to the grave.” •

The video showing the police murder of Laquan McDonald, 17, in Chicago

October 2014 was not released until November 2015. The earlier report claimed that McDonald posed as a threat, but when the video was made public with strangely no sound, it showed a teenager walking away from officers, then shot 16 times in 14-15 seconds. Viewers were understandably outraged. Shouting, “16 shots,” and “Stop the cover-up,” hordes of protesters, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, blocked traffic and frustrated bejeweled and bedecked shoppers in the

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Weekly Art Auction and Holiday Cheer Punctuate the Next Exhibit

First Fridays & More at UrbArts Looking for that singular gift to give to that special someone? This Friday,

UrbArts opens "Gifted: Art on Auction" for people seeking a collectible work of art but without the budget-busting investment. While you are here, check out The Saint Louis Poetry Slam at 8:00 pm and place a bid during the silent auction.

This Saturday, the first of several art auctions starts at 2:00 pm. Immediately following the auction, area teens step to the mic and compete during the

VerbQuake Youth Slam at 3:00. Free event and open to all. Teens must arrive by 3:15 in order to compete. The next auction will be Wednesday, Dec 9th at 6:00 pm.

Later that day, Dr. Chajuana Trawick hosts the opening reception at 6:00 for her exhibit, "A Few of My Favorite Things," that features a doll display that audiences of all ages will enjoy. This event is also free and open to the public.

Art auctions every Saturday at 2:00 and Wednesday at 6:00 pm

Special holiday event with Santa Sunday, Dec 13 at 3:00!

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

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BRAND NEW LANGUAGE cont.

tony and sophisticated Magnificent Mile where the wealthy drop thousands of dollars at a whim on luxury items.

There are simply far too many victims to name here. To sum it up, the most provocative of them all is the clarion call: “Black Lives Matter.” Dissenters quickly cobbled together: “All Lives Matter.” For some reason, “Black Lives Matter” seemed to rankle and annoy.

For some time now, many in the more conservative establishment media have lambasted the oracles and guardians of civil and human rights such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Race hustlers they’ve been called and poverty pimps among other invectives. Some naïve and ill-informed Blacks even joined in, leveling blistering attacks against these two men of God who have vastly effective organizations protesting racial discrimination, winning concessions and pushing the envelope forward. Perhaps those who’ve been critical of these titans of Black progress and advancement must have amnesia about Jackson being the protégé, the heir apparent, of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Sharpton the protégé of Jackson, therefore our collective memories periodically need to be refreshed. But it should also be noted that there were a noticeable number of Blacks who did not take kindly to Dr. King’s non-violent civil disobedience as mentioned in Taylor Branch’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, Parting the Waters, which chronicles the activism of the King years. Of course, many southern Whites, in particular, were livid over Dr. King’s audacity to speak up for racial equality.

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But when push comes to shove, it will be the more established groups that will seal the deal, as did Dr. King when he watched President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964. King later influenced not delaying the Voting Rights Act that Johnson signed in 1965.

There are all types of effective leaders, still, the ones in the boardroom or the suites will cultivate relations with lawmakers and other members of the ruling class for strategic political wins. Figuratively and literally, they dine with kings and queens yet still have the common touch; plus they reach a broader swath of the public. There are protocols, diplomacy, codes of conduct and rules of governing that in the final analysis help to push things forward. This includes high-minded speechifying and stagecraft, all cornerstones of leading change.

This is not to downplay the role of foot soldiers and shock troopers, courageous and defiant, who are on the frontlines staring down menacing battalions of police many times in military gear with scary artillery. They play a very important role in loudly vocalizing and galvanizing the public into action. But it takes more than gritty demonstrations to crack a dint in a firmly entrenched system. It also takes educators and intellectuals, writers and journalists and other members of the media who feel ethically obligated to fairness and balance -- big, medium and small donors, policymakers and politicians, great orators and public speakers and visible and not-so-visible leaders, savvy with the public and the media.

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BRAND NEW LANGUAGE cont.

Last month when the Concerned Students of 1950 at the University of MissouriColumbia asked President Tim Wolfe of the University of Missouri System to define systematic oppression, he had no clue. Bear in mind, they videoed his response. Most Whites and I dare say many Blacks don’t know what it means either. This is probably one of the reasons systematic oppression still has such a powerful sway. Of course, you would expect the president of a large university system to know this.

(Systematic) or "Institutional Oppression occurs when established laws, customs, and practices systematically reflect and produce inequities based on one’s membership in targeted social identity groups. If oppressive consequences accrue to institutional laws, customs, or practices, the institution is oppressive whether or not the individuals maintaining those practices have oppressive intentions.” http://www.pcc.edu/resources/illumination/documents/institutionalized-oppressiondefinitions.pdf

Thus many don’t see the hidden hand of bigotry and unfairness deeply imbedded in the system. They don’t understand that micro-aggressions, (another term that has emerged) can have a chilling effect on campus climate and other organizations. Neither do they understand how stereotype threats can be very restricting almost to the point of wearing a straight jacket. This is when members of oppressed groups feel they risk confirming stereotypes as if it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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So it seems normal that White males are at the top with the lion’s share of the money and power and women, particularly women of color, and men of color at or near the bottom with much less access to opportunities and frequently barely eking out a living. Hence, White identity politics is played out at almost every turn because it appears normal and biased behavior is difficult to discern and lawsuits are difficult to win. People do not call out discrimination and racism enough as dog whistles and code words obscure reality.

An example is TV news overly-reporting on crime in North St. Louis (a code word for the Black section of town) as if there is no crime anywhere else or the media portraying poverty as only the province of Blacks and Latinos, or showing women of color on welfare, like the nursery rhyme about the Little Old Lady in the Shoe who had so many children she didn’t know what to do. The kicker is the constant drum beat of “Black on Black crime.” While this is of deep concern, so should be “White on White crime” and just crime in general.

Recently a news reporter interviewing a protester in Chicago regarding the McDonald police murder, smugly asked a young African American male why he wasn’t as concerned about Black on Black crime. But the protester gave a measured and thoughtful reply, “Yes,” he said he was concerned about crime in his community, but police are supposed to “protect and serve.” Quick to call Black males thugs but very slow in calling mass shooters terrorists, particularly shootings in churches and birth control clinics (mostly committed by White males in their

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

BRAND NEW LANGUAGE cont.

30s). By calling Michael Brown a thug, the implicit message is he got what he deserved. As many experts contend: “Stereotypes can lead to social injustice.”

So the war on words continues and the control of Black images to the point where virtually everything is negative becomes common fare. Racist attitudes are perpetuated and compounded by de facto segregation in housing, schools and jobs. It’s no wonder viewers are negatively and heavily biased, indoctrinated with little-to-no compassion for people of color and the impoverished. What’s more there seems to be miniscule understanding of the role rights leaders play in attempting to correct social ills. At a whim, just to maintain ideological dominance, Blacks, other people of color and women across ethnicities can be reduced to one-dimensional caricatures with no realness or humanness and thus it’s difficult for many relate to their plight.

Despite the problems and the unwieldiness of it all, words of awareness and empowerment are shedding a bright light, neutralizing language and practices rife with racism. Engaging in dialogue and actions that are positive, healthy and fair can only improve conditions and bring reforms, ultimately leading to a more just society.

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

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Hey, high schoolers— want a job at the History Museum? Want to meet and work with other students from all over St. Louis? Hope to build your professional skills for the future?

HERE’S HOW!

More information about Step #1:

STEP ONE

When?

Apply for the Teens Make History Academy, a workshop that gives you a look into the world of museums—from exhibitions to marketing. You’ll meet professional staff, conduct weekly challenges, and complete a capstone project with teammates.

The 2016 Academy will run from Saturday, January 16 to Saturday, March 5, 2016. It will meet on Thursdays from 3:30–5:30pm and Saturdays from 10am–2pm.

Where? The Academy meets at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.

STEP TWO

Interested?

Graduate from the Academy successfully to receive a stipend and be eligible for a job in Teens Make History at the Missouri History Museum.

What’s next?

STEP THREE Apply for a paid apprenticeship in exhibitions or museum theater that you could keep until graduation!

Applications are due by Saturday, November 28, 2015. Visit mohistory.org/tmh/apply for the online application. Paper copies are available by request.

Applicants will be contacted to set up a formal interview in December.

Questions? Visit mohistory.org/TMH or contact Ellen at 314.746.4436 or ekuhn@mohistory.org.

Missouri History Museum Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park

314.746.4599 | mohistory.org/TMH

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

2 Mondays a month at Faith Miracle Temple 7:15 pm - 8:00 pm.

314-566-9125

I.G WaistNotFitness | FB WaistNotFitness | Email:WaistnotFitness1@yahoo.com

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Thank you from Missouri Citizens for the Arts

Not just at Thanksgiving, but all year long.... Missouri Citizens for the Arts appreciates YOU, our members and supporters. THANK YOU for all you do to help the arts in Missouri! We couldn't work on behalf of the the arts in our state without yoursupport.

(Can't remember when you last sent in your membership check to MCA? It just might be time to renew your membership! Please emaildirector@MO4arts.org to check on when your membership is due. Membership payments can now also be done quickly and easily online at www.MO4arts.org. Thank you for your support!) _____________________________ As the holiday shopping season approaches, please consider helping MCA anytime you shop online: Simply go to http://smile.amazon.com/ch/431260029 and designate MCA Education Fund as your preferred nonprofit. Every time you shop, Smile.Amazon will donate a percentage of your purchase, with no extra cost to you. It's so easy, and helps MCA very much. Thanks! Sincerely, Michelle "Mike" Ochonicky Executive Director

Missouri Citizens for the Arts www.MO4arts.org P.O. Box 187 Eureka, MO 63025 See what's happening on our social sites

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

You are cordially invited to our Holiday Networking Reception. We want to thank all of our staff, volunteers, corporate and community partners for an outstanding 2015. Come network and celebrate a year of job success and minority business development for Ferguson and the entire St. Louis region.

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Ferguson 1000 would like to thank our 100 corporate and community partners who have assisted us in the last year through jobs, job training and minority business development.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

KWANZAA Under the Baobab Tree Sunday, December 27, 20015, noon–4:00 pm. Free Join us for an afternoon of activities to celebrate an African American holiday tradition at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Presented in collaboration with the St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Noon–4:00 pm Museum Galleries • Zawadi (gift) hands-on activity for children • Self-guided tour and scavenger hunt 2:00–3:30 pm The Farrell Auditorium (Free; seating is limited. Same-day tickets available) • Spoken Word by Michael Castro, St. Louis Poet Laureate • Drumming and dancing by Moja Moyo & Company • Refreshments following performance Family Sundays are sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Way Black in Time pt. 7 The Black Archaeologist Web Series. Black Archaeologist In Way Black In Time Part # 7, Black Arch. time travels back to the year 1718 to meet Black Caesar the pirate and also to the year 1 B.C. DVDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at Black Archaeologist.com Seasons #1, # 2, and # 3 https://www.facebook.com/100002768677592/videos/718826761552940/

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

CALLALOO, the premier literary journal of the African Diaspora, is now accepting applications for the 2016 Oxford CALLALOO CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP (CCWW) until December 13, 2015. We invite submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction for admission consideration for this weeklong workshop, which will be hosted by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) at Oxford University, July 10-16, 2015. Fred Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aguiar (creative nonfiction), Vievee Francis (poetry), and Ravi Howard (fiction) will serve as the 2016 workshop leaders. Fred Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aguiar, a native of London who grew up in Guyana, is a novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist. A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, his 1991 play, was produced at Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. In June 2013, his most recent collection of poems, The Rose of Toulouse, was published, and his sixth novel, Children of Paradise, was published in February 2014 by Granta (UK) and HarperCollins (USA). Vievee Francis is the author of Horse in the Dark (Northwestern University Press, 2012), which won the Cave Canem Northwestern University Poetry Prize for a second collection, and Blue-Tail Fly (Wayne State University, 2006). Her third book, Forest Primeval, was released in 2015 (Northwestern University Press). Ravi Howard was, in 2008, a finalist for The Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for his debut novel, Like Trees, Walking. In 2008, he won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. His second novel, Driving the King, was published in January 2015. > HOW TO APPLY: Applications must be submitted online at http://callaloo.expressacademic.org/login.php no later than December 13, 2015. Each applicant must submit a brief cover letter and writing sample (no more than five pages of poetry, twelve pages of prose fiction, or twelve pages of prose creative nonfiction). To complete & submit your application, go to http://callaloo.tamu.edu/node/240. For additional information, email (callaloo@tamu.edu) or call (979-458-3108). Find the CCWW FAQ online, as well.

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CALLALOO CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Hidden Jewels of North St. Louis

To all: I am trying to close in on my target for this project, please do two things: Support it with a donation as small as $10.00 and Forward this e-mail to friends, family and colleagues in hopes they can support as well. This link includes both the IndieGoGo site, and my St. Louis on the Air Interview.

Why Hidden Jewels of North St. Louis Matters For those who just want to go straight to the campaign site go here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hidden-jewels-of-stl/x/46548#/ Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s make this project happen! Thank you!

-Phillip W. Johnson, Producer of the #Ferguson Film Fire this Time

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Please join our volunteers, clients & friends at our annual “thank you” holiday reception

Thursday, December 10, 2015 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Arcade Apartments 800 Olive Street (downtown)

parking on the street or in the 9th and Olive Street garage (Culinaria shoppers receive a discount.) Be among the first to see the newly renovated Arcade building, featuring affordable live/ work artist units and fantastic shared studio spaces.

RSVP Here!

Guided tours and live music

ABOUT THE ARCADE APARTMENTS Artists who are looking for affordable live/work space are checking out the Arcade Apartments. Dominium’s $118 million renovation of the long vacant downtown gem, at 800 Olive Street, will open in December. With 202 affordable artist units — rents as low as $563 a month — and over 11,000 square feet of shared artist studio spaces, the Arcade Apartments will create a collaborative community designed to embrace and support local creatives. The Minneapolis-based firm’s Arcade project also includes 80 market-rate apartments. Webster University, which is expanding its downtown presence, will be the anchor tenant. The renovation of the historic Arcade Building is the largest apartment renovation to be undertaken in St. Louis in decades. Residents will have access to a spectacular 19th-floor rooftop terrace, fitness center and a wide range of other amenities. Dominium, the fifth largest developer of affordable housing in the nation, opened the Leather Trades Artist Lofts in 2011, followed by the Metropolitan Artist Lofts in Grand Center in 2012.

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PLEASE SUPPORT US

Make a year-end donation that is worth more than a drop in the bucket — way, way more. We are the “go to” resource for the crucial counsel that artists and cultural organizations need, but cannot afford. And we do a lot on a very modest budget. Since 1982, we have organized and assisted all forms of businesses and provided advice regarding contracts, intellectual property, employment law, collections, immigration, real estate, free speech, taxes, bookkeeping, dispute resolution and more. Our seminars, guest speakers, website and publications provide practical information — skills and tools that are advancing careers and sustaining arts organizations. And we give our volunteers the satisfaction of incorporating service into their lives. The creative community counts on us, and we’re counting on you. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. You can donate online here.

Board of Directors

Amy Altholz, Erin Benedict, Daniel S. Cohn, Angie L. Drumm, Susan Hagen, Gregory A. Iken, Lois Ingrum, Dana Lasley, Samantha Mueller, Gary A. Pierson, Kerry Ryan, Matthew J. Smith, Douglas J. Stanley, Rebecca Thomas and Jennifer Visintine Sue Greenberg, Executive Director St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) serves the arts community by making referrals to lawyers and accountants; mediating arts-related disputes; publishing concise how-to guides; sponsoring seminars and public forums; providing guest speakers; maintaining a content-rich website; collaborating on arts advocacy initiatives; and facilitating access to the national volunteer lawyers for the arts network. St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts 6128 Delmar, St. Louis, MO 63112 314/863-6930; vlaa@stlrac.org www.vlaa.org

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Sister's Keeper Products

Natural Hair & Skin Care

We have created an all natural, emollient-rich, and affordable product line. Our products are created using the most effective ingredients to nourish, rebuild, repair and rejuvenate hair and skin. Some of the items we offer are: Dream Whip Body Butter Dip Hair & Body Moisturizer Exfoliating Brown Sugar Body Scrub Brahmi & Rhassoul Conditioning Masque Goats Milk Soap Whipped Soap Frosting Raw Organic African Black Soap Cocoa Honey Deep Conditioner Penetrating Hair & Body Glaze Sister's Keeper Sunburst Shampoo Bar Totally Twisted Styling Custard Happy Hair Leave-In Conditioner We also offer a bi-monthly subscription service.

Find us on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest @SistersKeeperProducts

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

every Mon-Wed- Fri.

5:30 PM-6:30 PM

She also teaches "WaistNWeights" every Mon

@ Faith Miracle Temple

7:15 PM-8 PM

Contact me today for personal training sessions!

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Freedomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eve Watch Night Service dramatization

2015

God's doing a New thing in 2016!

Directed and performed by Ron Hines of The Black Repertoire Theater

Thursday, December 31st Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, 3200 Washington Avenue, 10:30PM

Breakfast to be served following service.

presented by:

Washington Tabernacle Missionary Church &

St. Alphonsus Ligori Rock Catholic Church

WORD! WORSHIP! PRAYER! PRAISE! pg.

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www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

NOVEMBER 5 - DECEMBER 17, 2015

(EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT)

SEE OUR INSTRUCTORS AND WORKSHOPS A BIT ABOUT US AND OUR MISSION

Night Writers STL, offers six weekly, writers workshops to beginning and established writer’s in St. Louis City and surrounding areas. Workshops will spotlight a new instructor every two weeks to expose workshop participants to different styles and forms. The goal of Night Writers STL is to foster mentorships among new and established local writers and to bring our diverse writer communities closer together. Each workshop night will be followed by a reading from participants of the workshop and fellow writers. Reading is open to the public and is $2 at the door. Workshop and reading will take place at the beautiful upstairs bar and conference room at Tree House located at 3177 S. Grand Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63118. Workshops are $25 per class. $15 for Students and persons over 60-years of age. Students must have a valid high school or college I.D. to receive discount.

O U R

Jason Vasser

Workshop dates: November 5 & 12 6:30pm-8:30pm

I N S T RU C TO R S

Richard Newman Workshop dates: Nov. 19 & Dec. 3 6:30pm-8:30pm

Jane Ellen Ibur

Workshop dates: December 10 & 17 6:30pm-8:30pm

Night Writers STL is supported by Alchemy 7 Publishing, Tree House Restaurant located in the historic South Grand district, and our long-time partner, First Civilizations- a Literary and Arts nonprofit.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Fitness Boss & First Civilization

Monthly Health Tip! SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS

Written by : Tracee Green, Fitness Boss, LLC December 2015 Holiday eating can easily trap you into forgetting your goals in the midst of all the excitement of family, friends, socializing and food. Here are a few of my tips I use for the holiday frenzy of food:

Portion Control: As you fix your plate at those holiday parties be sure you are careful to watch your portions. Once you get used to portion control you can pretty much eyeball it, put no more than a fist size portion on your plate which is approximately a cup of mainly veggies and a protein. My plates are typically filled with veggies, next is my protein and if a grain is chosen I will stick to grains such as brown rice or quinoa. NO BREADS!!!

Unnecessary Snacking:

or create a drink with your choice of vodka/tequila/ mixed with a carbonated water.

If you work in an office environment you will see lots of snacks on desks during this time of year. Everyone is in a festive spirit. They are bringing donuts to work, putting out holiday candy and always offering up cookies!! DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T TOUCH IT. You can survive the unnecessary snacking by bringing your own snacks including fruits, nuts, and Greek yogurt. Staying prepared is the key to bypassing the junk.

Excessive Drinking:

Exercise: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait until January 1st to fix the damage done during the months of November and December. There is no point in waiting for the inevitable. You MUST workout, rather it is starting with a 20-30 min walk daily or running on the treadmill in the gym. You will fight the extra calories at the same time increasing your mood and motivating

you to stay away from the junk table at work. I say this because when you are exercising daily you are more likely to not eat horribly throughout the day.

During the holiday season we are more prone to celebrate everything and with celebrations comes alcoholic beverages. Choose low calorie drinks during those holiday parties. That means SAY NO to the mixed drinks such as margaritas &daiquiris. Choose items like red wine, pg.

Most importantly: Enjoy your holiday and spend it with those you love!! Happy Holidays from FITNESS BOSS

Make sure you visit www.bossfitnessmovement. com to learn more about our products, ask additional questions as well as learn of our next Fitness Boss Wellness Expo. Please like our Facebook Page: Fitness Boss

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Health, Beauty

And

Fashion

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

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MAKE ME AN OFFER. www.Allstarmotorsinc.com

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

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ART OF FOOD

Leftover Woes

Holiday Edition

REVAMPING:

First, I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, shopping, quality family time, indulging in your favorite annual meals, etc. Now we all know holiday leftovers are always a gift and a curse. Yes, we are ecstatic to have them, happy we can go to the fridge and make a plate whenever we’re hungry. However after a few days, those leftovers start looking real old. Old meaning, if I see it or have to eat that one more time, I’m going to scream. I know I’ve had that feeling, more than once. So one of the best solutions for this issue……revamp your food! Leftover never have to be a drag to have in your refrigerator. Simply try turning your leftover mashed potatoes into a patties or balls and fry them. Toss that stuffing into a waffle iron, add the turkey, cranberry sauce, etc. and make a sandwich. Or even make a quesadillas with all the fixings. Turkey Sliders?! Turkey & Stuffing Turnovers or Egg Rolls?! Turkey or Ham Taquitos?! Way too much gravy leftover…use it as a dipping sauce! Made too many macaroni noodles and plenty of broth left over from making stuffing? Combine the two together with some veggies and make a quick soup. Never be afraid to take chances or risks, after all it’s all about experimenting!

~Lena O.A. Jackson To contact me, get more recipes, find out about events I’m a part of, or to even order some of my food: www.facebook.com/gspDore www.instagram.com/gspDore

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Fried Mashed Potato Balls 2 cups cold mashed potatoes 2 eggs, lightly beaten ½ cup dry bread crumbs Oil for frying

Shape mashed potatoes into small patties or 1 inch balls. Roll the potatoes in egg wash then in bread crumbs. Freeze them on a small plate cookie sheet for 10 to 15 minutes. Using an electric skillet, heat 1” of oil to 375°. Or use a deep frying pan and heat oil over medium-high heat. Next fry mashed potato balls, a few at a time, for 2½ to 3 minutes, turning once halfway or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towel lined plate or try to drain. Serve warm with gravy or alone.

Turkey Quesadillas Tortillas Leftover Pulled Turkey Cheddar or Gorgonzola (Bleu) Cheese Cranberry Sauce/Relish Stuffing or Dressing

Even if you don’t have a quesadilla maker, you can still accomplish this recipe. Take your tortilla and load it up in layers with your favorite leftover ingredients. Next fold your tortilla in half and place it in a quesadilla maker or in a medium-high heated pan. (If using a pan, be sure to flip the tortilla on both sides to ensure a slight crispiness & a golden brown color.) Use a pizza cutter to slice it in 4 to 5 pieces and serve warm.

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Leftover Stuffing Waffles Yield: 2 waffles 4 cups crumbled leftover stuffing 2 large eggs Chicken broth or turkey stock, as needed Preheat the waffle baker and grease it with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together the leftover stuffing and eggs. Add ¼ cup of chicken broth and mix until well combined. Continue adding chicken broth as needed until the mixture is well-moistened. Scoop half of the stuffing mixture into the prepared waffle baker, spreading it evenly in a thin layer. Close the lid and let the waffle bake until golden brown and the egg is cooked throughout. Remove the waffle from the iron and repeat process with the remaining stuffing. You can serve the waffles with leftover cranberry sauce and warm leftover gravy. *This recipe works best if the stuffing/dressing does not contain large chunks of meat. The chunks prevents the waffles from binding easily.

Bundt Cake Balls

If you accidently burn a portion of the cake or bundt cake, this can easily be fixed without throwing away the entire cake. Find a small ice cream or cookie scooper or use the larger end of a melon baller and carve out portions of the cake. Set aside and make the icing. Combine 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milkm whisk until smooth. Usinf a spoon or toothpick cocer or drizzle the cake balls and let rest/dry on wax or parchment paper. Serve and enjoy!

Doré

Bon Appétit,

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

AAA Insurance Sales The Road to Success Starts Here

WE’RE HIRING! If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about our AAA Insurance Sales Agent opportunities, apply online at AAA.com/careers or call Insurance Business Manager Chris Raymond at (314) 862-8021 ext. 103

AAA offers the following: ✓ Pension plan and employer-matched 401(k) ✓ Forgivable draw plus commission ✓ Rewarding career advancement opportunities ✓ Excellent benefits package ✓ Paid sick/vacation and holidays

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www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

The Sunshine Cultural Arts Center & The Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club

In Unification of Kwanzaa Presents:

7 Annual

The

Kwanzaa CELEBRATION East St. Louis (IL)

Kwanzaa 2015 Celebration Features:

Poetry, Song, Music, Dance, Open Mic and Kwanzaa Candle Lighting Ritual

Celebration Date and Time:

Wednesday, December 23, Cost: Free to the public

2015 at 6:00 p.m. Celebration Location: The Sunshine Cultural Arts Center (The Rear of the Old Morrison School) 630 North 59th Street, East St. Louis, IL. 62203

Vendor Information: $35 per table*

For more information Contact EBR Writers (650-3991) or Bro. Sunshine (977-1476) * Proceeds from this event will benefit programming at the Sunshine Cultural Arts Center*

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www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

VIDEO: bell hooks + Kevin Powell conversation on manhood, trauma, hiphop, violence against women, healing, more:

Click below to watch now!

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Portfolio Fundraiser Moves to Artist's Studio

Janet Riehl's "Women & Wardrobe: The Riehl Collection" exhibit has finished it's successful run at The Portfolio Gallery and Education Center. It brought in $2,000 to help with much-needed building repairs. Many people went home with framed ($150) and unframed ($50) prints they love, and a good time was had by all. Folks have said they would have loved to have seen the show, and were sorry they missed it. Janet has decided to host At Home evenings on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. so you can! Come visit, enjoy the work, and of course buy whatever calls to you. Any profit realized will continue to benefit Portfolio Gallery. If you'd like to come, please contact her at janet.riehl@gmail.com. Janet and Robert Powell, director of Portfolio Gallery and Education Center appeared on Fox 2 news. http://fox2now.com/2014/07/29/women-wardrobe-and-art-on-a-cell-phone-atportfolio/# Janet and her art was featured in the Alton Telegraph. http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/home_top-lifestyle-news/50095336/Artists-workmakes-Riehl-results#.U-Tbf1Ao7qC

Come on out! Meet some new people and enjoy some playful, colorful, and sensuous art inspired by African Women.

www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

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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Debra, Has issued a $100 challenge

Help African Non-Profit Open Store African businesses, just like African people, have a responsibility to share their skills and resources with the people. When African businesses are dedicated to our people...

VIEW CAMPAIGN

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

The

New African Paradigm Study Group (NAPSG)

is an organization dedicated to the empowerment and education of our community through book study and our lecture series. We have brought many African scholars to St. Louis to awaken our people and to get on one accord to face the challenges in our community. The NAPSG is in need of your help so we are currently seeking new members to help us continue to be able to meet the demands of our lecture series and our study group. Our study group meets every 3rd Sunday at Sabayet, 4000 Maffit, St. Louis, MO. at 4:00 p.m. Please join us on our journey for knowledge of self, our gods, and our Ancestors. Contact James Steward at (618) 977-8191 for more information. Also, Like us on FaceBook.

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Redefine the Life in Your Lifestyle I know that it’s been a while since I’ve e-mailed you, I truly hope that all is well! I also hope that you’ve been able to stay up to date with all the happenings via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Between my recent trip to Mexico and the latest additions at the Meditation Lounge, there’s been way more to share than there is time, but I do the best I can! Healing Spa is Back!

So I want to tell you quickly that right after Journey Meditation this Sunday, the Healing Spa starts at 5:15pm! I haven’t offered this experience since October so I know that many of you are super excited about this. If you haven’t yet been, it’s a beautiful experience... You will be in a group setting with soothing, healing music to help you relax while you focus your intentions on the clarity or healing you seek. I’ll spend 15-20 minutes per person laying hands and sharing the spiritual insight that I receive for you. Please Register in Advance Our standard classes no longer require advance registration, however due to the nature of this experience, I’ll need to limit how many people attend so advance registration is required in order to attend. You can sign up online HERE or call 314-441-6929 to get signed up over the phone.

www.selenaj.com

Classes Offered 5 Days a Week In case you’re out of the loop, we now have meditation and yoga classes at the Meditation Lounge 5 days a week and our rates are still in the introductory phase! A single class is $10, but you can save by signing up for a Monthly Membership (starting at $35 p/m), or Pay-As-You-Grow Class Passes (starting at $40) - either way you save! Check out all of your options and view the class schedule and all of the services that we’re offering at www. selenaj.com! I’m looking forward to seeing you in classes this Sunday!

Peace, Love & Light, SJ

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Art of Healing

Your Ad or Article could be here!

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

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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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Lorca’s “What glass splinters are stuck in my tongue!” Lorca, Blood Wedding

Blood Wedding, Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1933 tragedy, better than other examples of the genre, induces an appropriate state of mind for dealing with contemporary global terrorisms. Terrorism is always implacable. Even if it were possible to offer it a Pacific Ocean of blood, its thirst would not be satisfied. Our nations furiously rave together then and now. Our clocks mishandle messiahs. Lorca’s brother Francisco aptly informed us in 1955 that “the final value of Federico’s theatre, and the one which most characterizes it, is the fundamental attitude of an author who liked to live, that is to say, to suffer and enjoy life’s course as an inevitable universal drama” (Three Tragedies. New York: New Directions, No. 52, 1955). What is the final value of lynching, the fate of Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955? The cycles of our mother’s bone-houses always attending the birth-burial of the blood weeded fetus. Lorca knew something about cycles and human beings which seems to inhabit the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Book of the Dead, Sophocles, Marlowe and Shakespeare, Voltaire, Goethe, Arthur Miller, and Amiri Baraka Perhaps before the 20th century , terrorism was so disguised as audacious , raw, heroic warfare or “Yahweh-, God & Jesus & Holy Ghost- , Allah-blessed” crusades that it could not be x-rayed it for what it is. The Enlightenment misspelled its name, the West being arrogantly ignorant of what the South and the East knew for several thousands of years. After WWI, the Emperor of Cream and the White Witch disrobed and mooned the world. pg.

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Tragic Knife The transgendered Western fathers of invention adorned themselves in designer sackcloth, photographed themselves in the Passolini poses of PetroniusFellini’s Satyricon.

In Lorca’s time, disguises were translucent; his exquisite poetic sensibility enabled him to know what Goya and Picasso knew, what later Francis Bacon and Jean-Michel Basquiat discovered in paint and Romare Bearden, Ishmael Reed, and Toni Morrison , in or on paper: tragedy is encoded in each human being. In the womb, the fetus feeds the Satanic spider and learns the death-grip of the tragic knife. Lorca did not retreat into excuses of fear and pity, false assurances of balance and restoration (catharsis), certainly not in Blood Wedding. He simply recognized the passionate, fractal amorality of life. Deflecting selective sympathy to a so-called tragic hero or to the collective victims of Nature-sponsored events is a learned (and ultimately cowardly, anti-existential) habit of response to tragic forms; the quest for excuses and explanations is an absurdity of the human imagination. There are no reasons or clarifying theologies. What is at any time, is. ISIS is Hitler, Pol Pot, and Idi Amin Dada much improved; it is, in our time the enhanced KKK or the sublime Mafia. Terror and terrorism are manifestations of Cain’s blessing Abel with the Kafka motions of Lorca’s tragic knife. They shall be forever beyond destruction. “The moon sets a knife / abandoned in the air/ which being a leaden threat/ yearns to be blood’s pain.” (Blood Wedding, Act 3, Scene 1) Lorca’s tragic knife turns your flesh to stone as your blood renews the Earth. Jerry W. Ward, Jr. November 17, 2015 Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

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www.the-arts-today.com

Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Ajuma Muhammad Author of 101 Proven and Effective Strategies for Empowering Black Boys

WATCH NOW!

1 0 Strategies

f o r E m p o w e r i n g B l a c k B oy s 1. Black boys should maintain a healthy relationship with God. 2. Black boys should honor and always respect their parents. 3. Black boys should embody greatness in everything they do. 4. Black boys should take pride in their history and culture. 5. Black boys should empower their community through leadership and service. 6. Black boys should be role models in their communities. 7. Black boys should honor, respect and protect the black woman. 8. Black boys should work to establish an economic foundation in their communities. 9. Black boys should travel internationally to better understand their place in the world. 10. Black boys should love themselves!

www.ajuma.org

pg.

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Way

Black In Time pt . 6

COMING THIS WEEK!

Animated WEB SERIES Starring The Black Archaeologist.

http://blackarchaeologist.com/ Black Archaeologist Group Facebook

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

Racial

Politics By Pierre Blaine

Excerpt of forthcoming Book: Movement

Even as important as the union movement was to helping to create a middle class in the United States, the white male members failed to embrace Africa-Americans because of an ill-conceived perception that they would take their jobs. President Johnson as a Southerner and former leader of the Congress understood that the New Deal and Great Society coalitions which he led to help pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with the Civil Rights activists would cause the abandonment of the Democratic Party by white Southerners into the Republican Party. He also knew that this appeal would be based on racial resentment. This conservative movement has created a continued increase of the concentration of wealth and diminishing income distribution for the middle class.

WHY HAS RACE BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN OUR DEVELOPMENT AS A COUNTRY? ESPECIALLY SINCE THE CONCEPT OF RACE SCIENTIFICALLY DOES NOT EXIST EVEN TO THE POINT WHERE WHEN WE CONDUCT TESTING OF OUR ANCESTRAL ORIGINS’ DNA, WE ARE NOT WHAT WE IDENTIFY OURSELVES.

Once it appeared that the liberal labor coalition could pass progressive legislations, Southern Democrats joined Northern Republicans to form conservative voting blocs which stopped legislation that would benefit working class Americans. This phenomenon pushed average white workers into the conservative camp even though Republicans were not pushing a middle class agenda. The coalitions that President Obama weaved together in the election cycles of 2008 and 2012 represent the future of America – it is where we are headed. The vitriolic contempt against the president from an opposing party does have historic similarities – the Repg.

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publicans hated Bill Clinton too, except to hear them talk about how well they got along with President Clinton is really quite ludicrous – the difference with President Obama is the undercurrent of racial bias. The Republicans skillfully used that rhetoric to feed the racial bias undercurrent that still exists in parts of their own constituencies but it is also designed to poison the well of good feelings in the republic for electing the country’s first black president. The train of multiculturalism cannot be stopped – the demographics of the United States becoming more Hispanic, more Asian, African-American and immigrant are unstoppable.

So, what we see now is a conservative movement designed to take control over the Congress and make it impossible for a democratic president to pass through legislation that will benefit the most people. Republican-drawn maps of the state’s congressional and legislative districts are creating this havoc. The Republicans represented the 1% and to understand that in terms of the effects of the Great Recession – despite the recession the people they represented went to the bank. Now, understand there is nothing wrong with going to the bank, it just when it causes the 99% to lose pensions, homes, jobs, and economic security, that becomes a

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

RACIAL POLITICS cont.

problem.

We have to forge a new economic reality based on inclusion, collaboration, and income justice which allows the people to make a living wage and re-establishes a middle class. Financial power in the U.S. has unnecessarily pushed the country off a cliff with greed at its center which has the potential of destroying the democracy. If that would happen it would have negative consequences on the world economy and distort the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pursuit of freedom and democracy as worthwhile strategies for nation-states. The Great Recession has caused many around the world and especially in America to question whether capitalism is capable of providing goods and services without exploitation and killing the existence of the middle class. I do not know the answer to that question except that democracy and capitalism should go hand in hand. We need a new capitalism going forward in the 21st century and beyond. This does not have to mean the end of capitalism or developing markets or products â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but it does mean putting people over profits.

Corporate profits over the past years overall have been increasing up by 20% in America and yet wages have been stagnant but etching up slightly. 95% of the gains over the three years following the recession went to the top 1% and the companies they run have chosen not to pay their workers. You actually have workers who do not get the schedules they need to plan anything around their work and received less hours so they do not make a livable wage and many are on the TANF program because they are not making enough to live. There is a strong correlation between educational attainment and improving the financial health of the family despite the negative impacts that race and racism have had on Blacks and their ability to improve financial outcomes. What would be the impact on the American economy if more workers made more money and spent more money in the economy and companies currently parking over $2.1 trillion oversees to avoid taxes were in play in the economy?

A cooperative economic system is the single most important ingredient for success in our system going forward in the 21st century. Looking out for No. 1 with greed at its center retards growth at a time when we need to be spending more money on improving the infrastructure both in businesses and the country. The promotion of fear in the body politic and running businesses must stop because that does not instill motivation and inspiration in leading the country to greatness. The American culture through its diversity and appreciation for the contribution

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of the individual and the synergy created through collaboration and cooperation can inspire us to be American. A culture that truly respects the benefits of education, continuous improvement, and life-long learning can propel us beyond racial divisions, divisions because of class, and refighting the Civil War.

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership will focus on improving health and wellness, increasing economic activity, reducing violent crime, improving educational outcomes, and creating sustainable development which means mixed-income communities. The key to this promise is to foster collaboration, change and inclusion which will drive future regional growth and prosperity. This is becoming a model for the whole country and should go a long way to improving conditions of the people. Thinking outside of the stadium will go a long way to find the money to develop neighborhoods. How do we really treat qualified blacks in the St. Louis region, they end up leaving the community for greener pastures? In the 21st century the only reason why we are still dealing with the racism and public policy of perpetuating it is that Americans tolerate it and have not stamped it out of our institutions. We must eradicate the institutionalization of racism that permeates all of our institutions which practices it. It is my fault that it still exists and I am doing what I can to eradicate it. A CNN poll in July, 2015 found that 57% of white Americans see the Confederate flag as a symbol of Southern heritage and 33% see it as a symbol of racism. We cannot wait on the hero to ride in on some magnificent horse to save us from our own rejection of our own ideals of what it is to be American. We must go inward and observe the eruptions of neurosis that explode on the scene that indicate that there is work to be done to correct the underlying systemic injustices in our body politic.

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Volume 2.10 December 23, 2015

January 31 is quickly approaching. That’s the 2016 deadline to sign up for health insurance on HealthCare.gov. If you don’t get health insurance coverage through your employer, union or a government-funded health plan, like Medicare, you can choose an affordable insurance plan on HealthCare.gov that covers everything from doctor and hospital visits to maternity care and prescription drugs. You cannot be denied coverage if you have a pre-existing condition. Want to know more? Check out our infographic or website.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes a requirement known as the individual mandate. Most Americans are required to have health insurance or pay a penalty for noncompliance. For tax year 2016, the fine will be $695 (per adult) or 2.5% of taxable income, whichever is greater. Plans may cost less than you think — 8 out of 10 people who enroll through HealthCare.gov qualify for financial help to lower the cost of their monthly premiums.

Please share this announcement with your uninsured friends. Best Christmas Gift Ever: Give your mother peace of mind.

Get covered

Looking for a place where you can get FREE one-on-one help signing up for a health insurance plan? Find an enrollment site in your Missouri neighborhood here. Or call (800) 3182596 to speak to a counselor who can help you navigate the system. In Illinois, call (866) 311-1119. St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts will host two “procrastinator” enrollment sessions in mid-January.

Our Every Artist Insured campaign is being promoted with daily Tweets @STLVLAA, featuring photos of artists like Shannon Piwowarczyk (left). Our goal is to educate every St. Louis artist — working in every discipline — about the basic provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including the law’s financial incentives and disincentives, and options for securing coverage. The Twitter campaign caught the attention of St. Louis Public Radio, which aired a story earlier this month.

THANKS Our Every Artist Insured campaign is made possible by grant support from the Regional Arts Commission (RAC). RAC is at the forefront of efforts to transform St. Louis into a more vibrant, creative and economically thriving community by elevating the vitality, value and visibility of the arts. St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) serves the arts community by making referrals to lawyers and accountants; mediating arts-related disputes; publishing concise how-to guides; sponsoring seminars and public forums; arranging for guest speakers; maintaining a library and website; collaborating on arts advocacy initiatives; and providing access to the national volunteer lawyers for the arts network. St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts | 6128 Delmar, St. Louis, MO 63112 | 314/863-6930;

vlaa@stlrac.org | www.vlaa.org

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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.

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Closing in on my goal for “Fire this Time” - if everyone would do two things 1) support the making of this film with just a $20.00 donation and 2) encourage 2 of your friends to do the same - it will allow me to license some additional footage and photos - you can donate now by going here: http://www.cmt-tv.org/#!join-the-team/c1195 CMT-TV.org is a 501c3 non-profit organizations thus your donations are tax deductible - thank you - the making of this film will help me attract more resources which will allow real community filmmaking in STL -Phillip W. Johnson Producer of the #Ferguson Film Fire this Time

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CAREERS

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A big Thank You to our CONTRIBUTERS