Arts vol 2 4 by Arts Today Ezine

Vol 2.4 June 4, 2015

“SOUPY” Alan David

Q&A WITH SOUPY pg #22

TIME TO MASTER COOKING WITH LENA pg #64

Eat ST. LOUIS! SOME OF THE BEST EATS

View this and past issues from our website.

TAKES A VILLAGE Pierre Blaine pg. #4

SITUATION... Dr. Jerry Ward pg. #102

pg #80

FOOL ALL MY Reginald Martin pg.#135

IN THIS

ISSUE:

IT TAKES A VILLAGE PIERRE BLAINE

LIVE / WORK / PLAY NATE JOHNSON

12 IN THE NEWS TBA

BLACK MUSIC MONTH BERNIE HAYES

48TL WilClihaamsesr&

m torARTIST the S FEATURED

STOLEN JOY, SLAIN DREAMS... DR. TRACEY MCCARTHY

HOUDINI HANDCUFF CASE RENARDA WILLIAMS

Dr. Tracy

FEATURED ARTIST JOHN JENNINGS

Gaslight Theater pg. #10

“. . . for Eugene u, R. the sky’s the “unlimit”...” Mari Evans pg.#24

Baba Sherman Fowler,

Griot and Poet

Established 2014 Volume 2.4 St. Louis, MO www.the-arts-today.com/ Layout/Design www.bdesignme.com

pg.

TIME TO MASTER LENA O.A. JACKSON

pg.#14

The Violinist

94 CURSIVE WRITING JOY SOUTH

A R T S E SIMAYA CH ORSUDDUTH

The Art of Self Lovepg. # 6

NOTE:

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

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Volume 2.4 June 4, 2015

Village

It Takes A

Homer G. Phillips, a black attorney in St. Louis, Mo., took on the fight to get a hospital for blacks in St. Louis to heal their bodies at a time when healthcare for blacks was difficult to access. Healthcare was given to blacks in the basements of City Hospital No. 1 and No. 2 and blacks were relegated to second class citizenship. Homer G. Phillips (18801931) became the champion for getting a hospital built that would take blacks out of their second class status. Attorney Phillips began this movement for a hospital for blacks in St. Louis by proposing a bond issue to pay for the funding of building a hospital in 1923. In 1922 City Hospital No. 2 had its first graduating class for a school of nursing for black nurses. As steam began to move forward to creating a hospital for blacks it became clear that there was a great need for training for black medical professionals. So, the fight for a hospital for blacks waged on for 14 years as Attorney Phillips and others fought to get the bond issue passed for building the hospital. For reasons not known, Homer G. Phillips was tragically shot to death at the corners of Aubert Avenue and Delmar and the murder was never solved in June of 1931.

by Pierre Blaine

pg.

2 Think about it, the leader of the movement was slain and during the depths of the Great Depression, members of the black community continued to forge forward to make the dream a reality. The bond issue was passed and the hospital was named for its champion –the “Homer G. Phillips Hospital” for blacks built in the village called the Ville neighborhood-the seat of Black Culture in St. Louis, Mo. The hospital was dedicated in 1937 which included 5 buildings – an administrative building, a building for nurse’s apartments, a service building, north and south wards buildings for patients, and quarters for interns and resident physicians. The dedication ceremony was a major event for the City of St. Louis, attended by the Governor of Missouri, Lloyd Stark, Secretary of the Interior, Harold I. Ickes of the Roosevelt Administration, and City

Comptroller Louis Holte. Thousands of people came to the ceremony to dedicate the hospital which would also be a first class medical training institution. By 1939, there were 52 black physicians and as a training facility accepted over 50% of black graduates of the United States’ medical schools. “Homer G.’ was a Class “A” General Hospital approved for internships and residencies by the American Council of Medical Education and the American College of Surgeons. It was one of two institutions in America where doctors of African descent after receiving their M.D. degrees could go for hospital training. ‘Homer G.’ also provided learning opportunities for the village – the community where students from Sumner High, Turner Middle, and Simmons school could participate in healthcare field trips. As a medical institution it expanded learning opportunities in the Allied health and specialty fields and at the height of its magnificent glory provided jobs for the village employing between 800 -900 people. In 1979 Homer G. Phillips as a hospital closed. Currently, that legacy is being tarnished by the revelations that have surrounded nefarious activities that have affected one of our own - the queen of gospel and her daughter taken - but re-united. I hope that we as a community can balance an appreciation for the legacy and demand resolution for the injustice.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A COMMUNITY.

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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

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The Violinist

Eugene R.

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MONTH

Black Music for Whom?

June is Black Music Month, but the struggle for air-play, equal opportunity, parity and recognition in the world of music and entertainment continues today, especially for African American artists, writers, producers and promoters. It is an ongoing fight. Black Music Month began in 1979 when Kenny Gamble, Ed Wright, and Dyana Williams developed the idea to set aside a month dedicated to celebrating the impact of black music. Created by music business insiders, the group successfully lobbied President Jimmy Carter to host a reception on June 7th, 1979 to formally recognize the cultural and financial contributions of black music. Since 1979, Black Music Month has grown from a commemoration to national proportions with extravaganza across the country, but circumstances are not what they visualized.

For many years independent record labels, producers, writers and artists have been the object of a type of unfairness and bias that is difficult to imagine by the general public. Local artists and companies in cities across the nation such as Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Detroit, Houston, Cleveland, Dallas, Jackson, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Louisville and hundreds of others too numerous to name have been systematically excluded from this multi-billion dollar enterprise. 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. We still feel the loss. 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 whose owner, Kenny Gamble, the man that created Black Music Month, was under the distribution control, lifeline to its financial survival, of CBS Records. Personally it is inexplicable to me how some record companies and black radio programmers and deejays can be such hypocrites regarding black artists. And they are especially prejudiced against singers and musicians recording ‘cover records’, meaning songs that have been previously recorded by other artists. They become very selective of artists they know as opposed to new artists who are ‘trying to make it’. They must realize that the definition of hypocrisy is deceit, dishonesty, deception and false professionalism. And there is still the illegal practice of payola, the illegal practice of play for pay in the industry. And Black Radio has become almost nonexistent. The Black

DJ was the communities ‘conversationalist’, the communicator that provided neighborhood news as well as information and directions to and for the civil rights movement. It gave positive images of African Americans, in their churches, in education and provided historical facts that were omitted in popular culture and in schoolbooks. They made their listeners know that they were valuable and significant. St. Louis played a profound, powerful and passionate journey on the path of historical significance. Establishing the city as a leader in supplying the Black population with entertainment, knowledge, social news, and civic events. The major St. Louis stations that offered programs and personality shows aimed at the ‘Negro Market’ in the early days were KATZ, KXLW, KADI, KWK and - WTMV that later became WBBR, WAMV and finally WESL. And the music has changed since the beginning of Black Music Month.

nothing-open up the door, I’ll get it myself, was typical of what Black Music Month should be about. The dynamic lyrics of this song are: ‘Don’t give me denigration, give me true communication; don’t give me sorrow, I want equal opportunity, to live tomorrow’; give me schools and give me better books, so I can read about myself and gain my truly looks’. It is evident that Mr. Brown produced some of the most influential bodies of work in musical history. We should celebrate June as Black Music Month, but there are many features that we must change.

Bernie Hayes

For years the late C. Delores Tucker waged a passionate national campaign against obscenities in rap music. The political and social activist focused a spotlight on rap music in 1993, calling it “pornographic filth” and saying it was demeaning and offensive to black women, but she was mainly left out in the wilderness by the very same protesters who are so forceful today. Is it because they didn’t want to share the spotlight with a black woman? C. Delores Tucker passed out leaflets with lyrics from gangsta rap CD’s and urged people to read them aloud, and picketed stores that sold the music, handed out petitions and demanded congressional hearings. Where was her support from the men who are campaigning against it now? Why did it take so long for women to recognize the obvious hatred of their sex expressed in rap videos? Why haven’t more women become furious at being continually depicted as sluts willing to do anything for a chance to be with a young man with money and a flashy car and jewels? I believe, C. Dolores Tucker, who passed away October 12, 2005, had the right idea when she picketed the record stores, but I think she did not go far enough. I propose she should have begun a selective buying campaign targeting the recording artist and their labels. During the civil rights years, African Americans used buying power as political leverage in the struggle for equality. And James Brown’s composition ‘Say it loud-I’m Black and I’m Proud’ exposed his motivation to do the right thing in the music industry, and showed him as a man of brilliance, of action, of grace, of style, of wit and of playfulness. And his compositions such as ‘The Payback’, ‘Living in America’ and perhaps the most riveting, ‘I don’t want nobody to give me pg.

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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

pg.

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Volume 2.4 June 4, 2015

LIVE WORK PLAY

Volume 2.4 June 4, 2015

Local Events

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

If you are looking for something tonight, aka Wednesday, you can join me at the Missouri Botanical Gardens to check out the R&B and Rock & Roll rising star Nikki Hill as she performs a free show at the Whitaker Music Festival!

JUNE

I hope that you are doing well. My apologies for letting more than a week of this beautiful month pass by before saying hello. Fortunately, the real estate market has been in full bloom, which has kept us focusing on our clients goals. I like to think of June as the sweet spot between Spring and Summer. Al Bernstein once said that with “Spring

being a tough act to follow, God created June.” I certainly agree with

that statement as the weather is beautiful and as usual, there are some great things going on here in St. Louis. I have a few event suggestions for you to help make it a great month. Hopefully I’ll see you at some of them!

pg.

9 thru

JUNE

On Thursday, you can head down to Off Broadway to check out Twangfest, which celebrates Americana music with a host of great musicians that will be performing through Saturday. For something completely different on Thursday, you can head over to the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts to become a part of the Press Play Meditations where Angela Malchionno will lead a meditative drawing and walking experience set to a hiphop soundtrack.

Friday, The Atomic Cowboy will be host to Graphic! Part 3, which will feature a runway show with some of

the best t-shirt designers around! You can join me and The Emerging 100 at the 2nd Annual All White Affair at the Contemporary Arts Museum. Also, on Friday, you can check out jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who has established himself as one of the most influential jazz musicians of his generation at Jazz at the Bistro.

Take a step back into 19th Century England on Saturday with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as they perform the gripping saga Emmeline. Also on Saturday, The 9th Annual St. Louis Brewers Guild Heritage Festival will be in Forest Park where you can enjoy over 100 different beers crafted by 35 different brewers. There will also be live music and food! Later on Saturday, you might check out the Missouri Ballet Theatre performance of The Little Mermaid at The Edison Theatre at Washington University. Speaking of Princesses ( yes, Ariel is a Mermaid Princess), how about throwing the little ones into your chariot and heading to the Princess Prom on Sunday afternoon at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles? A magical afternoon of music, dancing, art, food and more awaits you!

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Volume 2.4 June 4, 2015

LIVE WORK PLAY

JUNE

thru

JUNE

On Wednesday, one of the best emerging bands out of New Orleans, The Revivalists, will be blessing the stage at the Broadway Oyster Bar with their indie rock & funk styling. You can join me on Thursday at the CIC- Cambridge Innovation Center for TedX Gateway Arch @ Venture Cafe where we will hear some ideas worth sharing, while enjoying a beer that I won’t share. Also on Thursday, you can check out some live blues music while cruising down the Mississippi River on the Arch Riverboat Blues Cruise. Friday, you can join me at the St. Louis Association of REALTORS - RPAC Auction in Maryland Heights. If you are looking for some more live music, Floetry will be blessing the stage at the Pageant. Alternatively, you may want to head down to Foam Coffee & Beer to catch The Free Years, Whoa Thunder and Schwervon. The beginning fringes of the St. Louis Fringe Festival are also underway. On Saturday, the 2nd Annual Vintage Bliss Market takes over the village at Westport Plaza where you can shop for vintage, antique, and handmade goods from a variety of vendors. Speaking of 2nd Annual events, the whole family will enjoy the 2nd Annual Plaquey Wacky 5K and Obstacle Race will be held in Willmore Park in St. Louis Hills on Saturday. There will be lots of fun exercise, activities for the kids, music, healthy snacks and of course, the inflatable obstacle course! If you prefer an indoor activity for the kids, they can enjoy sculpting their own chess pieces at The World Chess Hall of Fame for Family Day Sculpt N’ Play. There will also be kid friendly tour of their current exhibit! Also on Saturday, enjoy local food and drinks, live music while exploring the links between sustainability, energy efficiency, and a healthy environment at the 14th Annual Green Homes Festival at the Butterfly House. Now that the kids have been satisfied, you can join me at The RFT Music Showcase where the best and brightest local bands (over 80 of them!) will be blessing 10 indoor and outdoor stages in The Grove neighborhood from 1pm to 3am. Father’s Day is Sunday and you might find me and my dad over at Brennan’s enjoying a scotch and cigar. You can also head down to Ballpark Village for Family Fun Day Series! This free event will feature a variety of sports themed events, rides, mascots, face painting, and more!

JUNE

On Tuesday, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis is celebrating their 40th anniversary with a one-night only concert, which highlights the extraordinary talents of their jazz-clarinet-man.jpgYoung Artists group accompanied by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Webster Groves! We’ll stick with the classical theme for Wednesday as the incomparable violinist Lindsey Stirling will be breezing through St. Louis as part of her world tour. I must say that the classical part is more about her training and instrument because you’ll find her music in the dance/electronic section, and her performance sports futuristic electronic big beats and animation. On Thursday, join Laumeier’s Chief Preparator for a couple of drinks and a behind the scenes glimpse into the processes used during the stages of design, fabrication & installation at Cocktails & Conversation at Laumeier Sculpture Park.

thru

Join me on Friday at the St. Louis Art Museum for the free SLAM Underground Garden Party to celebrate the opening of the new Sculpture Garden! There will be music, drinks, lawn games & DIY Art! This might be a good day to check out the remaining fringes of the St. Louis Fringe Festival. On Saturday, you might find me in Chesterfield at the Wine & Jazz Festival, which boasts an exciting lineup of the best contemporary, straight-ahead and fusion jazz. DId I mention that admission is free? Also, this is the last weekend for Circus Flora “One Summer on 2nd Street”, so catch it while you can! JUNE

Sunday, you can join me for the opening of Senufo: Art and Identity in West Africa at the St. Louis Art Museum. This exhibit features over 150 loans from museums and private collections from all over the world. Also on Sunday, you can join me and Trailnet at the Bridge Birthday Bash and Bicycle Ride! We’ll celebrate the 86th birthday of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge with birthday cake, live music, beer, food, and a scenic family friendly bike ride!

Yes, another great month in St. Louis. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if there is anything that I can do for you.

All the best. ~Nate

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Volume 2.4 June 4, 2015

Q&A with

Soupy Alan David

Metro Theater Company’s “The Boy Who Loved Monsters and the Girl Who Loved Peas” Actor Soupy Alan David returns to Metro Theater Company for its summer production, “The Boy Who Loved Monsters and the Girl Who Loved Peas,” a hilarious comedy by Jonathan Graham about monsters, peas and family bonding in an age of distracted, technology-addled parents. Since 2001, Soupy has worked with many St. Louis theater companies, including HotCity Theater, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, St. Louis Shakespeare and Mustard Seed Theater. Favorite roles include Ryu Nakata in “Maple and Vine,” Khaled in “Back of the Throat,” Aaron the Moor in “Titus Andronicus” and Tipsy Toucan in “Osgood Rex.” In 2012, Soupy was awarded a scholarship to study at The Second City Training Center in Chicago. 1.) You play the character Evan, an 8-year-old boy who wishes he had a real live monster to eat his peas and play with him. Is it challenging to play an 8-year-old as an adult or is it just ridiculously fun? Are you tapping your inner child? Honestly, it’s both. I know a lot of adults who wish they could be kids again. It was challenging for me because children of that age have such wonderful and complex imaginations, yet their thought processes are pretty straightforward. They don’t linger on the complexities of something after they’ve identified it for themselves. I’ve had to re-learn how to simplify things, which has been both refreshing and challenging at times. Also, children let go and immerse themselves completely when they play. It’s that kind of freedom which makes it so much fun. I’m definitely tapping into my inner child and it’s great. 2) The play is a heartfelt comedy, but it also addresses issues like parents distracted by technology and devices. How different is Evan’s environment from, let’s say, you were growing up? Do you draw on any similarities or parallels from your childhood? While technology has certainly advanced, I find it interesting that Evan isn’t too concerned with the use of electronic devices as much as his parents. Strict limits on the exposure he has to mobile devices lets him play and use his imagination in much the same way as I remember when I was growing up. I remember playing “The Hot Lava Game” and jumping on all of the furniture in the house, trying not to touch the floor! pg.

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3) What’s the energy been like during rehearsals? Is it hard to make it through rehearsals without laughing? I don’t think we’ve made it through ANY rehearsals yet without laughing! Our director, Jef Awada, has provided exemplary guidance during this production. My cast mates Patrick Blindauer, Andrew Kuhlman, Jamie Lynn Eros and Alicia Smith have all been a delight, and it’s been a pleasure getting to grow with them as a family during this time.

“The Boy Who Loved Monsters and the Girl Who Loved Peas” is perfect for kids and families. It runs from

June 12-22 at Wydown Middle School in Clayton. For tickets or more information, visit www.

4) What do you think people will love about the play?

metroplays.org.

Although the set and the costumes are absolutely wonderful, I’m a little biased and hope most people will enjoy watching the family play together. 5) You studied at The Second City in Chicago, where the roster of resident stage alumni is a who’s who of comedic actors. What was the most important skill or lesson you learned from your time there? One of the fundamental principles of improvisational comedy is called “Yes, and...” which allows for anything to happen. When a fellow actor presents you with something, your job (instead of disagreeing) is to say, “Yes, and...” so you accept the scenario and then build upon it, going back and forth with the other actor. It’s a great way to practice the art of giving and receiving. 5) You had a small role in Jason Reitman’s film “Up in the Air,” starring George Clooney and Anna Kendrick, which, as many people remember, was filmed right here in St. Louis. How different is it being on set with big name celebrities for a major motion picture versus some of the small local films you’ve done? The main difference is that everything is bigger: the cameras, the lights, the trailers--even lunch! However, our purpose remains the same: we as actors are on set to fulfill the story. And we use our imaginations in order to make it a real and believable experience for the audience. Children, by nature, are wonderful actors because they immerse themselves in the reality of their playtime, and we as adults can learn from that. So, take a cue from a child and put some fun into your day. Spend a few minutes in imaginative play! pg.

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Joy

Dreams Souls:

Stolen , Slain and Broken

Reclaiming Your Truth, Your Life and Your Power Stolen Joy, Slain Dreams, and Broken Souls: Reclaiming Your Truth, Your Life, and Your Power by Dr. Tracey McCarthy, Psy.D., DCFC, J.D., M.A. Psychologist/Attorney/Educator Webster University - Legal Studies Department www.drtraceymccarthy.com

-Soul Breakers“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” ― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Jerry Sandusky. Ariel Castro. Warren Jeffs. Westley Allan Dodd. Boko Haram. Mary Kay Letourneau. Chester Stiles. Priest Aaron Joseph Cote. Ike Turner. Carmelo Melchior ""Mel"" Baltazar. The school teacher (Matt Amaral) who told you and Wardell Curry that you could not achieve your dreams. The boyfriend who beat you. The mother who told you she hated you. The coworker who stole credit for your work. The aunt who feels the need to announce to the family every ounce, inch, or pound you have gained. The father who points out every flaw in your personality and your person. The grandmother who called you stupid. The brother who discounts your dreams. The cousin who rejoices when you flounder. The best friend who downplays your accomplishments. The uncle that molested you. The parent that beat you until you bled. The sister who keeps a record of your every failure. The associate who readily points out the problems with every choice you make. The neighborhood drug dealer. The international drug cartel leader. The Hollywood pedophile. The child soldier recruiter. The slave trader. The child trafficker. The robber. The murderer. The rapist. The child abuser. The spouse abuser. The master mental manipulator. The controlling power tripper. What do these people have in common? They are joy stealers, dream killers, and life destroyers. As a clinical psychologist, with a focus on integrative and positive psychology, I have become increasingly aware that the overwhelming amounts of mental illness, psychological disturbance, and social ills, are the direct outgrowths of individuals and groups of individuals being subjected to joy stealers, dream killers, and life destroyers during the lifecycle. In fact, the vast amount of work done by helping professionals is predicated upon human suffering. The helping professions are, by and large, jobs and careers that grow out of the deep degradation, degeneration, and dehumanization of humanity. Through studying and exploring strategies for the cultivation and maintenance of joy, dream fulfillment, and life potential realization, it has become clear that many individuals and groups must first acknowledge, confront, and heal from life events that have resulted in stolen joy. Joy stolen must first be reclaimed before it can be cultivated to its full experience and expression. Having sat with countless individuals who have recounted lives filled with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, stress and trauma related disorders, dissociative disorders,

pg.

somatic disorders, elimination disorders, sleep disorders, sexual dysfunctions, impulse control disorders, addictive disorders, personality disorders, and paraphilic disorders, it is clear that all have direct or indirect ties to pilfered joy. -Enviable JoyJoy is a word that is casually tossed around and generally thought to be understood as simply a derivative of “happiness.” Joy, however, is deeper and more profound than mere happiness. The very definition of “joy” speaks to why joy is so frequently, compulsively, and maliciously sought out to be usurped, appropriated, and destroyed by others. “You ought to live your life with such freedom and joy that uptight Christians will doubt your salvation.” ― Steve Brown Joy is a construct that is repeated throughout the Bible. It is, therefore, instructive to consider ancient language interpretations of the word in understanding its power, its desire, and its destruction. Joy is beyond mere happiness and is indicative of blithesomeness, glee, exceeding gladness, calm delight, exultation, and rejoicing. Joy is also understood as an emotion induced by one’s sense of well-being, one’s success, one’s good fortune, or by one’s possibility of acquiring something that one desires in life, however large or small. Joy is, then, necessarily tethered to the construct of being “blessed.” To be blessed is to be prosperous in life, to have favor, to be exposed to opportunities, to be treated propitiously, to experience advantage, to be commended and exalted. To have one’s joy stolen, therefore, is to be wrongly deprived of the actuality or possibility of calm delight, exceeding gladness, exultation, rejoicing, a sense of well-being, success, good fortune, or the acquisition of a life desire. To have one’s joy unjustly taken is to be robbed of favor, prosperity, opportunities, advantages, commendations, and promotions. To have one’s joy stolen is to create, in its place, agitation, turbulence, anxiety, disappointment, unhappiness, sadness, sorrow, grief, woe, dejection, misery, depression, anguish, bleakness, despair, isolation, devastation, emptiness, agony, suffering, misfortune, poverty, discomfort, distress, loss, rejection, deficiency, death, neediness, disadvantage, condemnation, defamation, and devaluation. These are all the fruit of stolen joy and the foundations of most psychological and spiritual disturbances. Such are also the foundations of lives less-than-well-lived and the roots of dreams deferred and life potentials forestalled or completely derailed. Whenever one looks back over one’s life and sees any of the above in their experience base, one is generally looking at the tragedy of stolen joy, the killing of their dreams, and the destruction of their life potential. When one is doing fairly well, however, one often fails to realize that, but for the stolen joys of life, one could be doing even better. -Dream Slayers-

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When one is perpetually surrounded by unending joy stealers, and drowning in the realities of such, it is often impossible for such an individual to even consider that the joy that has been stolen can be recaptured. When one is drowning in a sea of family, friends, or coworkers who are joy stealers, it is difficult for such an individual to imagine an escape from such a spiritually and psychologically deplorable matrix. When one has been deluded into believing that they do not deserve to have joy that was stolen from them, such an individual is likely to forego healing from stolen joy and, instead, resign themselves to lives of misery for which they seek out and create much company. “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” -Henri J.M. Nouwen Rarely, do we, as human beings, directly confront the stealing of joy in our lives. Instead, we tend to find it emotionally, spiritually, physically, politically, or economically more palatable to go into denial about such and pretend that such is not occurring or that the implications and impact of such are of little significance. We talk ourselves into walking away, ignoring, selfdeception, and a plethora of other coping strategies to avoid dealing with reality. We do this, in large part, due to a belief that the consequence of confronting joy stealing is greater than the benefit of challenging such. So, when your child is molested, you turn a blind eye and a deaf ear. When you are slapped the second time, you chalk it up to “out of control love.” When you are beaten black and blue while being called every degrading name known to humanity, by your out of control parent, you call it “loving discipline and nurturing care.” When you are cheated on for the 3rd time, by the same person, in 3 years, and an extra-relational baby is produced, you call it “just being human.” When credit is repeatedly taken for your hard work, you call it “paying dues.” When a grown, privileged, well-connected and university-protected man repeatedly rapes a group of socially and economically disadvantaged boys, under his care, you just call it “a darn shame.” When your grandmother announces, for the 5th time, that your cousin is fat, you sheepishly concede that he could stand to lose a few pounds. When your best friend repeatedly cannot seem to rejoice with you in your accomplishments, you chalk it up to a lifetime of “bad days.” When your colleague repeatedly tells her 5th grade students that they are stupid, you don’t want to interfere with her academic freedom and “teaching style.” When a group of grown men kidnap, rape, and dehumanize groups of innocent school girls, across the Atlantic, you call this “religious freedom” or “none of my business.” When your sister or brother, who is on crack, meth, heroin, or alcohol, refuses to take care of his or her children - or emotionally, physically, or sexually abuses them at every turn - you see such as beyond your power to confront or intervene. When someone does something blatantly hurtful to another, you count it all an inadvertency, a mistake, or just a simple, commonplace act of “humanity” which we all perpetrate or endure. Rarely, if ever, however, is the stealing of another’s joy an innocent mistake or simple act of “humanity.”

-Make No MistakePeople who steal joy, as a life practice or an intermittent indiscretion, generally know exactly what they are doing and the stealing of your joy is their decided intention. Make no mistake, when individuals do any of the above, or engage in other joy stealing activities, their intent is to, ultimately, see you in a temporary or permanent state of agitation, turbulence, anxiety, disappointment, unhappiness, sadness, sorrow, grief, woe, dejection, misery, depression, anguish, bleakness, despair, isolation, devastation, emptiness, agony, suffering, misfortune, poverty, discomfort, distress, loss, rejection, deficiency, neediness, disadvantage, condemnation, defamation, and devaluation. Joy stealers, regardless of their relationship to you, have your emotional, spiritual, physical, social, or economic destruction as their aim. This can be confusing because, oftentimes, those who are chief joy stealers are those who are close to us and those who we love or like or those who claim to love or like us. “One of the secrets of life is to find joy in the journey." -Matthew Buckley It is confusing because we allow others, and ourselves, to pretend that love is simply a verbal declaration or a feeling that requires no behavioral manifestation to back such up. We get confused because, often, those who are joy stealers are also “life givers.” They have birthed us or have supported our growth and development in some seemingly positive way. We get further confused because we are often connected to joy stealers by blood, adoption, marriage, or some other socially sanctioned affinity. Joy stealers are often, simply put, an integral part of us and our lives. If someone abuses you, calls you names, rejects you, rejoices in your downfall and hardship, causes you repeated sorrow, pulls you down, dishonors you, constantly and intentionally disappoints you, defames you, devalues you, or repeatedly brings turbulence, distress, and discomfort into your life, such is not love. Such is the theft of your joy, of your peace, or your sanity, of your very life. Misery loves and demands company and joy stealers are the most miserable of people you will ever encounter. Happy, healthy, and well-adjusted people do not practice joy stealing, nor do they find repeated life pleasure in such. They are too busy being joyful and spreading joy to others. Joy stealers, on the other hand, are busy about the business of finding ways to pour out the misery that fills their very core. On almost a daily basis, the typical joy stealer finds ways to openly and aggressively steal the joy of others or quietly do so through extremely passive aggressive methods. Whatever it takes, a joy stealer will employ. “Joy is strength.” - Mother Teresa

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Joy stealers study their targets, their prey, and determine the best weapons to use in the destruction of another’s wellness. Joy stealers are generally individuals who have had their own joy stolen. Hence, they are experts are understanding the process by which joy can be stolen and the internal and external resulting life destruction that grows from stolen joy, deferred dreams, and destroyed lives. Instead of using such knowledge to heal, however, joy stealers simply seek to steal the joy of others, derail dreams, or destroy lives. “Why?” you might ask. Joy stealers tend to have fragile egos, a low sense of self-worth, and a damaged sense of self-efficacy. They often feel powerless to rise above certain situations in their lives and stealing your joy makes them feel, at least, momentarily better about their own choices and their plight. “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” - Max Erhmann (The Desiderata)

Many are also deeply mired in unbridled envy rooted in negative social comparisons and a perversity of moral development. They find pleasure in the pain of others or pain in the pleasure of others. What makes you happy, causes them to be sad. When you are sad, such causes them to be internally joyful, gleeful, and gloating. Stealing your joy, therefore, creates a sense of fleeting or deep satisfaction and accomplishment. Of course, it is the rare joy stealer that will come right out and openly gloat about your discomfort, your setback, your hardship, or your pain and suffering. Such brazen individuals, however, do exist. -Joy StealersIf you missed a beat in your musical performance, they cannot wait to tell you they noticed such, at your recital reception. If they earned a master’s degree by age 24, and it took you until your 50s to do so, as soon as you sit down for your celebratory family dinner, they will be sure to point this out to you and anyone else who will listen. If they had a child at 17, when your child becomes pregnant at 15, they are over the moon simply thinking of the hardships they envision for your child. If they have never been rewarded for a job well done, your job termination will be cause for a happy hour celebration, for three months straight. When your wife suddenly leaves you for the man she has been seeing, they will remind you, at every possible opportunity, how indomitably happy they are in their suddenly fulfilling marriage. If you fail your certification, licensing, or other credentialing process, they are likely to tell you that such is beneficial so that you can know what failure feels like. If there is any fault they can find with you, or your life, they will find it and let you and/or others know of their great discovery, again, and again, and again. Joy stealers, regardless of how they present on the surface, and regardless of your relation to them, are deeply and variously touched by envy and sadism. Sadism is characterized by

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unkindness, cruelty, and latent heartlessness. Envy is manifested in a sense of bitterness, spite, jealousy, and resentment. “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” - Carrie Fisher -Unenviable EnvyMore than just about any other emotional state, envy is repeatedly tied to joy stealing. Psychologically and spiritually, envy is a most dangerous and destructive emotion. Envy results from a person having a desire or wish for some possession, characteristic, or accomplishment of another. Envy is a state of unhappiness that one feels when one does not envision oneself able to acquire the desired object, quality, achievement, or state of another. This unhappiness, rooted in negative social comparison, evolves into an envious person desiring to inflict harm on the individual in possession of the object, characteristic, or accomplishment. When one is merely jealous, one has a desire for the object, characteristic, or accomplishment. Jealousy is also related to fears over loss of something already in one’s possession. People tend to be jealous, for example, regarding the possible loss of love or attention of a particular person. When one is envious, however, one is generally operating from a state of maliciousness and destruction. Envy is about resentment over what one does not already possess and the desire to destroy such related to another. Clearly, if one is depressed, feeling rejected, or otherwise not where one wants to be in life, envying the possessions, accomplishments, qualities, or general state of another is a high possibility. So, too, are the actual attempts at destruction of such or stealing the joy associated with such. Envy, along with avarice, pride, wrath, and sloth, is one of the deadly or toxic sins. If one takes a moment to reflect on the joy stealers initially identified, one will likely see that one or more of the deadly sins was at the heart of the joy stealing of individuals and groups. A research construct that has been tied to joy stealing is that of “schadenfreude.” Schadenfreude (harm-joy) is a German word that means taking pleasure or joy in the hardship, adversity, trouble, misfortune, or tribulation of others. According to Cikara & Fiske (2012), envy is a potent predictor of Schadenfreude. Not surprisingly, schadenfreude has been linked by researchers (James et al, 2014) to narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. This is not to suggest that the every joy stealer is a Machiavellian psychopath, but to draw attention to the depths of suffering inherent to those who gain perverse pleasure from the pain of others. According to researchers Porter et al (2014), those who are high in finding pleasure in the pain of others actually seek out opportunities to experience such pleasure. Hence, joy stealers will tend to find, or create, moments in which they can witness hardship, failure, or pain or create

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the occasion for such. This can occur on both an individual level as well as a group level, based upon any number of demographics from sex, to race, to gender, to socioeconomic status, to religious affiliation, to marital status, to political affiliation, to occupation, to family group, or to country of origin. “We are all the judges and the judged, victims of the casual malice and fantasy of others, and ready sources of fantasy and malice in our turn. And if we are sometimes accused of sins of which we are innocent, are there not also other sins of which we are guilty and of which the world knows nothing?”

problems, heart failure, and back pain is your joy stealer’s greatest conception of victory, whether they admit such or not. Joy stealers threaten your very life expectancy and the power of your potential in life. They want you to feel failing, undesirable, dejected, stupid, inadequate, and any other negative thing that will alter the trajectory of your life in a harmful direction. There is nothing loving about joy stealing, envy, or Schadenfreude and such is quite contagious. “Comparison is the death of joy.”

- Iris Murdoch

-Mark Twain

Schadenfreude is particularly intense among those who have general or specific feelings of inferiority (Leach & Spears, 2008). Alarmingly, such is also more prevalent among depressed individuals. Research by Chambliss et al (2012), revealed that Schadenfreude is higher among depressed, versus non-depressed, students. This suggests that reactions to the personal successes and failures of others are correlated with depressive symptomatology. -Guarding Your HeartIt is impossible to be in a constant state of preparedness to deal with, and deflect, the envy or the schadenfreude of another, particularly those who are close and intimately connected. It is also difficult to ascertain when others may be struggling with low self-worth, depression, low self-efficacy, and envy which may lead to the motivation or compulsion to engage in joy stealing. You cannot control the emotional state of another. You cannot fix another who sees joy stealing as a means to feel better about themselves and their lives. What you can control is your response to such. What you can alter is how you feel about yourself and how you take care of you in the face of such individuals. The admonition of “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Proverbs 4:23) is a powerful and decidedly on point warning regarding dealing with joy stealers. The heart is the core of your very essence. It is the storehouse of your life’s desires, hopes, and dreams. It is the wellspring of your very life’s blood. Joy stealers are essentially heart destroyers. As hard as it may be to face and accept, when one serves as your joy stealer such an individual, in that moment, is your enemy. They are not your friend. Such individuals are toxic to you and such serve as threats to the fulfillment of your life and its divine purpose. When you allow toxic people to enter and remain in your life, and direct the very course of your heart, you are playing a dangerous and potentially destructive game. When your heart is not in a salubrious state, neither will be your career, your marriage, your friendships, your mind, or your body. This, however, is exactly the state of being your joy stealer desires for you, whether they admit to such or not. You having out-of-control diabetes, obesity, sadness, cancer, disappointment, joblessness, despair, eczema, business loss, arthritis, hair loss, academic failure, breathing

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Joy stealers want you to be anything but filled with joy. They want your life to be anything but a joyous one, whether they admit such or not. Joy stealers want you to give up, to surrender to every defeat that life, or they, deliver. Psychologists, physicians, social workers, nurses, clergy, massage therapists, attorneys, and crisis workers have enough work to sustain them for a lifetime due to responding to the joy that has been stolen from those they seek to assist. A great percentage of joy stealing, however, must be addressed directly for optimal healing. -Reclaiming Your TruthWe are frequently told to simply ignore people who are doing harmful things, as if one acquires some moral or intellectual high ground by doing so. We teach others how we are to be treated. Ignoring someone who repeatedly hurts you, teaches them to treat you abusively. You are teaching them that you perceive yourself as having low value. You are teaching them that you do not believe you deserve any better. You are indicating that your heart, your peace, your joy, and your life are not worth fighting for. You are teaching them to continue to steal your joy and to expect no opposition in the process. You are teaching them that you are a toy to be played with, at their whim and at their pleasure. Whenever possible, any and all forms of human abuse should be confronted and directly addressed to the abuser, whether the abuse be emotional, physical, sexual, or spiritual. This confrontation is not to assure that the abuse will stop; it is to facilitate truth and reconciliation within oneself. Your job is not to heal the joy stealer. The job of healing a joy stealer is the work of a joy stealer, not the target of such. Sometimes, however, confronting another about their abusive and joy stealing behavior is all that is needed for a wake-up call and behavior change for the joy stealer. Joy stealers often catch their targets off guard with their joy stealing comments and actions. They often say and do such outlandish things that only a person who is very quick on their feet is prepared to issue an immediately appropriate retort. Therefore, it often takes some

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time to process joy stealing events and determine an appropriate and healthy response to such. It is, therefore, generally helpful to step back from the events, actions, and person(s), to gather one’s wits regarding the incident(s). -Owning Your Poweroccurs.

Sometimes, however, the joy stealing behavior needs to be checked in the very moment it

The most difficult thing for many people to deal with, who have been on the receiving end of joy stealing, is that they will generally need to choose between their own mental and spiritual health and the relationship they have with the joy stealer. To the greatest extent possible, one needs to control access that a joy stealer has to their heart and mind. This means that one generally needs to consider reconfiguring any and all relationships with joy stealers. This may mean severing all ties with a joy stealer or, alternately, it may mean creating very strict boundaries to control a joy stealer’s access to you.

Above all, do not become a stealer of any joy that you may have lost. Pilfered joy is no joy at all and another’s loss will not be your true joyful gain. When healing from stolen joy, do not hoard the tiny morsels of joy within. Instead, find a way to embrace, magnify, and proliferate all of that which remains. “Scatter joy!”

Blocking text messages, voice access, email, and the like, assists with creating needed boundaries against joy stealers. Severely limiting interactions to periodic group and family functions is also assistive. When joy stealers start talking, turn away. Turn the volume of your phone down. Tell them you have to depart. Whatever it takes, guard your mind and heart. It is almost impossible to literally strike anything from the record of your mind once consumed. Whatever you elect to do, protecting your heart, your mind, and your health needs to be your paramount responsibility in relation to a joy stealer. Of course, joy stealers, and their willing and silent colluders, will often balk at your attempts at self-care and calling them on their behaviors. That is fine. It is highly unlikely that your divine assignment on this earth is to be someone else’s emotional punching bag, door mat, or stepping stone. Do not let anyone strong arm you into colluding in your own abuse, the theft of your joy, the destruction of your life, or the killing of your dreams. If standing up for yourself, creating boundaries, and working to recapture your life, your joy, and your purpose is a problem for anyone in your life, simply let them balk/walk away. You will, likely, be no worse for the decreased wear.

― Ralph Waldo Emerson Works Cited: Chambliss, C., Cattai, A., Benton, P., Elghawy, A., Fan, M., Thompson, K., Scavicchio, D., & Tanenbaum, J. (2012). Freudenfreude and Schadenfreude Test (FAST) scores of depressed and non-depressed undergraduates. Psychological Reports, 111(1), 115-116. Cikara, M. & Fiske, S. (2012). Stereotypes and Schadenfreude: Affective and physiological markers of pleasure at outgroup misfortunes. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(1), 63-71. James, S., Kavanagh, P., Jonason, P., Chonody, J., & Scrutton, H. (2014). The Dark Triad, schadenfreude, and sensational interests: Dark personalities, dark emotions, and dark behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences, 68, 211-216. Leach, C. & Spears, R. (2008). A vengefulness of the impotent: The pain of ingroup inferiority and schadenfreude toward a successful outgroup. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 (6), 1383 -1396. Porter, S., Bhanwer, A., Woodworth, M. & Black, P. (2014). Soldiers of misfortune: An examination of the Dark Triad and the experience of schadenfreude. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 64-68.

Joy stealers do not just come in the form of individual people that we know. Some joy stealers produce music, make films, write books, and create visual pieces of arts that, when consumed, wipe the smile from your face, degrade you, dehumanize you, and drag you into an unwitting state of misery and self-debasement, while charging you admission for the experience or a fee for ownership. You become what you consume. Turn it off. Tune it out. Toss it in the trash. Walk away. There are countless joy-producing, positive, uplifting, introspecting, exhorting, fear slaying, dream-fulfilling, healing, truth-seeking, love-giving, and happy souls in the world. Strive to be those people and to surround yourself with such.

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WATCH NOW!

Howard University Alumni Constituent Unit of St. Louis Jazz Brunch and Scholarship Fundraiser to support the

Frankie M. Freeman and Wayman F. Smith Scholarship Fund Saturday, August 1, 2015 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Hilton St. Louis Fronntenac 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63131

Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA Guest Speaker

17th President of Howard University

For more information, please contact Ralonda Jasper, HUAC - St. Louis Fundraising Chair at 630-697-9641 or rmjasper@sbcglobal.net

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The Houdini Handcuff Case: What Really Happened to Victor White?

By Renarda A. Williams All around America in offices, barbershops, and homes, the question needed an answer: how could 25 year-old Freddie Gray severe his own spine in the back of a police van? Scores of medical experts said it could not be done. Maryland State Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby responded with her answer by filing charges against the six officers involved in the arrest of Gray.

“These conflicting reports tried to create a diversion,”

In New Iberia, Louisiana, there is a similar case. It involves the death of 22 year-old Victor White who died March 2, 2014 from a gunshot wound he suffered while sitting handcuffed in the back of a deputy sheriff’’s patrol car. According to the sheriff’s office, the wound was self-inflicted.The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office report indicates that at 11:22 p.m. on March 2, deputies responded to a report of a fight at a convenience store in the 300 block of Lewis Street of New Iberia.Trooper Stephen Hammons of the Louisiana State Police — to whom the sheriff’s office later handed over the investigation — told the Black press and the Baton Rouge newspaper that White was reportedly fighting with others when deputies responded to the call.Deputies said they located White and discovered he was in possession of illegal narcotics. They cuffed his hands behind his back, and then placed him in a squad car for transport to the sheriff’s office for processing.“Once at the sheriff’s office, White became uncooperative and refused to exit the deputy’s patrol vehicle,” Hammons said. As the deputy requested assistance, White produced a handgun and fired one round, striking himself in the back, according to the report. The Iberia Parish Coroner’s report, however, states that White was shot in the chest. White’s father, Victor White Sr., told TheVillageCelebration ( www.thevillagecelebration.com) that he does not believe his son had a fight at a convenience store, was arrested for possession of illegal drugs, or committed suicide. “I watched the convenience store’s video, and it did not show my son involved in a fight,” White Sr. said. “He was not arrested for possession of illegal drugs … my son’s friend said the police let them go when they were stopped at the store.” White, Sr. said he believes sheriff’s deputies beat his son and covered up their crime. White also questioned why it took the coroner’s office five months to release autopsy results. The coroner for Iberia Parish, Carl M. Ditch, did not return calls for a response. Instead, a representative of Ditch’s office emailed a press release. “The family of Victor White was called to meet me personally on August 14, 2014, and at that time [they] were given a copy of the complete autopsy report and my findings concerning the tragic death of their son,” Ditch said in the release. “That same day, a copy of the report was given to the investigating authorities, i.e., the state police and the district attorney’s office. No public press release was made at that time, since the manner of death was determined to be suicide and the coroner’s office has a policy of not releasing details of suicide deaths to the public. Due to events since that time, however, I feel this press release is necessary. “Based on the forensic evidence and information gained from the ongoing state police investigation, I have determined the cause of death is a single contact gunshot wound to the right lateral chest, and the manner of death is suicide. Although the decedent was handcuffed at the time his hands to his back, due to his body habitus, the pathologist and investigators agree that he would have been able to manipulate the weapon to the point where the contact entrance wound was found. The statement continued, “The manner of death was determined to be suicide based on information gained from the ongoing state police investigation, that at this point is not complete and has not been released to the public as of yet. Hopefully, this will be completed soon and turned over to the Iberia Parish District Attorney.”

reject a portion of the coroner’s report.” Lexing said the coroner’s report left out key elements, such as whether White’s fingerprints were dusted for gun residue. She said she believes this information was intentionally omitted. “I have very little confidence in anything that comes out of the Louisiana Forensics Center where it relates to incidents that involves police officers,” Lexing said, adding that she doesn’t expect findings in such incidents to favor African Americans. “They could not get around this particular issue because they already put out their report about the shooting ... . So they had to come out with something else, but they left out important details that could resolve main issues in this case that are omitted. Why? Because it must be some type of cover up.” Rob Vines, the Iberia Parish District Attorney, said that because he had no file on the White case, he could not comment about the investigation.

Since White’s death, there have been a number of high-profile cases involving police officers killing African American men. Powell-Lexing, a civil rights lawyer, who argued before the United States Supreme Court and won a case that limited police immunity, sees parallels between White’s death and the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Dontre Hamilton, Tamire Rice, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray. She stated, “It mirrors the devaluing of African American lives and proves that some have a reckless disregard for their lives and that there are two standards for how they police, in their minds, different groups of people. That is why it is easy for some police officers...not all of them...to gun down and beat and not provide medical attention to people who are already subdued and in custody.” “These conflicting reports tried to create a diversion,” he said. [The sheriff’s office and coroner] thought I would get tired, frustrated, and just leave it alone. I will never give up … until I find out ... what happened to my son.”

“thought I would get tired, frustrated, and just leave it alone. I will never give up … until I find out ... ”

what happened to my son.

The family is rejecting the coroner’s report. Carol Powell-Lexing is the White family’s attorney. “The Louisiana Forensics Center contracts out autopsies of forensics for [local cities] and Iberia Parish,” she said. “New Iberia is one of those cities. Based on my experience, whenever there is a police officer involved in a case, the Louisiana Forensics Center is never going to say that the police officer did anything wrong. That’s why I pg.

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Kwansaba cum Haiku: Maya Celebrated in St. Louis 2015Đ

Cheeraz Gormon: In the Midst of Loving

Left Bank Books In her first published book of poetry, In The Midst of Loving, a collection compiled and edited down over 14-years, North St. Louis native, life-long activist, and internationally touring spoken word poet Cheeraz Gormon opens her heart for the world to connect with her story. As a life-long lover who understands that “Love makes no promises, only humans do,” she boldly takes the reader on a journey “...from break ups to break downs, while all in the midst of loving.” Refreshments will be provided.

he who harms a childĐ abuses the gods' muses,Đ poisons poetreesĐ

Parking: Lots one block north and one block east; street parking (meters free after 7pm).

Ravaged as a sapling, Maya's poetree rises� over a forest that Eliot, another home� bard, imaged as a western border between� civil & “wild.” Today, a ten-poet� salute, a three-piece jazzgasm, spoken mime,� auction of memory-drunk hues & caged� bird blues befit this St. Louis muse.�

For directions and public transportation information, click here. Event date:

Thursday, June 18, 2015 - 7:00pm Event address: Left Bank Books 399 N. Euclid Ave. Saint Louis, MO 63108

Eugene B. Redmond� In the Midst of Loving (Paperback) By Cheeraz Gormon

Email or call for price. ISBN: 9780692401279 Availability: Out of Print Published: Alchemy 7 - March 14th, 2015

A “St. Louis [Phenomenal] Woman” returned home April 26 when the STL Poetry Center & AKA Sorority, Inc., presented� “Celebrating Maya Angelou” (1928-2014). Held in Forest Park, homaging poets included Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club� members (Jaye P. Willis, Charlois Lumpkin, Roscoe “Ros” Crenshaw, Darlene Roy & EBR, Poet Laureate of East St. Louis) plus� Nancy Hughes, Jason N. Vasser, Shane Seely, Coretta Bozeman, Mazare Rogers, DuEwa Frazier, Shirley Bradley LeFlore, a dancer-poet team� of Deanne Leatherberry & Tasha “Unspoken” Archie, & STL's Poet Laureate Michael Castro.�

http://www.left-bank.com/event/ cheeraz-gormon-midst-loving

Photos courtesy of the Eugene B. Redmond Collection: Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (� eredmon@siue.edu� )� To view or donate go to: http://www.siue.edu/lovejoylibrary/about/digital_collections.shtml�

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oye Forrest, a 19 year old freshman at California Institute of the Arts, in Valencia, CA was recently crowned Miss Teen Missouri United States 2015 in Kansas City, and became the first African American teen to hold the title in Missouri history. Forrest will represent Missouri in the Miss Teen United States 2015 in Washington, D. C. during the first week of July, 2015. Forrest addressed the issue of abstinence before and until marriage during a Question and Answer session faced by all of the finalists. Forrest said, she “wants to encourage others to be courageous, stand up for what they believe and not to succumb to peer pressure for all the wrong reasons.” Forrest entered the Miss Teen United States Missouri competition as Miss Spanish Lake Teen. She has an extensive background in the performing arts as a dancer, including accomplishments as a participant in Dancing in the Streets St. Louis, So You Think You Can Dance with Debbie Allen Advance Dance Company, National American Miss Spirit, Contemporary Dancer Award, Dance Theatre of Harlem, COCA Dance company member, and L.D. Live TV Ballet Eclectica, as principal dancer. Additionally, Forrest is a Founding Co-Chair of the Forest Park Forever Mother and Daughter Tea, and has served as a Channel 11 (KPLR –TV) Assistant for America’s Next Top Model. The talented teen’s community involvement includes mission work in Mexico, working with an orphanage in Ghana, Africa, Doorways HIV/AIDS Center in Saint Louis, and I Am My Sister’s Keeper, a privately funded charity started in 2008 by her Mother’s company and Joye which solely benefits a group of 30 Single low-income Mothers with children, who are living with HIV/AIDS. During her reign as Miss Teen Missouri USA 2015, Forrest says that she “ will continue to be a spoken voice to further the efforts and support of children affected by HIV/AIDS who are often forgotten.” Her future ambition is to travel the world as a professional dancer, and later to become a nationwide news reporter.

Joye Forrest Miss Teen Missouri United States

Forrest says that her” Ultimate goal is to be a positive influence for my peers, and to be that person that is an example to emulate. I want to motivate others to embrace their differences, and dream big.” To schedule appearances for Joye Forrest, Miss Teen Missouri United States 2015, contact sheilaforrest@live.com or 314-389-5194. Facebook.com/missteenmissouriunitedstates

Instagram: missteenmous

Sponsored by: www.afroworld.com

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ST. JUDE HERO 2015 NYC Marathon for kids w/ cancer

Need your help! St. Jude and I just need 20 more of you to support kids with cancer. HEY EVERYONE! I am running the 2015 New

York City Marathon for the second time in November. I am raising money once again for St. Jude @ StJude, the great hospital for children with cancer. I am very close to my goal of $3500, and simply need 20 more of you to donate $25 each as soon as you are able, and then I am done and can focus strictly on training for the marathon. Can you please take a few minutes today to make a $25 donation? It would really mean a lot to me. Thank you so much in advance, and here is the link to donate: http://tinyurl.com/nb7p3e3 And if you have previously donated

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Click image to

Kevin Powell

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Featured

Artist

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Submission

Simiya Sudduth

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Title: African Lion (Baskets & Mixed Medium)

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Simiya Sudduth is a visual artist, art

educator, mother of two children and trained ICTC Full Circle Doula. She has worked both as a teaching artist and artist in residence at several art organizations including the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia, PA and the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Simiya describes her visual art work as primarily manifesting itself in the form of sculpture, installation and drawing, that leans heavily towards an exploration of our relationships with nature. She exploits the perceived notion of fragility and delicacy in regards to a permanent, industrial materials such as porcelain, threads and paper while comparing and contrasting these ideas with the reality of our fragile ecosystems and our connections, or the lack thereof, to living beings other than ourselves. Simiya states that her work is heavily informed by ecofeminism and as a result, her work combines found materials and living materials, such as plants, soil, wood, fiber and clay. My creative work as a visual artist informs my work as a birth-worker in that it has given me the creativity and courage needed to assist families during the sacred life transitions of childbirth and parenting. As a doula, I am passionate about natural birth, breastfeeding, social justice and holistic living. My ancestral roots, the history of the Granny Midwives of The South and my personal birthing experiences inspire me to combine ancestral, intuitive and evidence based information and healing in my practice as a doula. I consider birth-work an essential part of my social justice, feminist and reproductive justice praxis. I am called to birthwork because of the dire need of culturally competent birth services. I am a firm believer in accessible, culturally relevant birth services as a means to eliminate racial and health disparities in underserved communities. As a doula offering full spectrum support, my core focus is serving underserved communities: teens, families of color, LGBT*QI families and low income communities. I work to ensure that my services are culturally competent and meet the needs of ALL families! Currently, I provide birth and postpartum doula services to families in the Saint Louis, MO metro area. Contact Info Simiya Sudduth: contact@sagemoondoula.com

www.sagemoondoula.com https://www.etsy.com/shop/sagemoondoula

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Come Welcome and Hear Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick Current and 17th President of Howard University

8th

Saturday, August 1, 2015 | 10:00AM to 1:00PM Hilton St. Louis Frontenac 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd. | St. Louis, MO 63131

$50

$25

$60

$45 for active alumni (local or national membership) in advance

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

Call in at 1-855-525-5683

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Lesley Nowlin Accountant/Author www.lesleynnowlin.com While volunteering this tax season, I noticed artists were not aware of tax deductions. Many work full-time jobs, and nurture their creative muse on a parttime basis. As a result, artists have a tendency to neglect taxes and finances. Whether a dancer, artist, singer, or writer, your creative endeavors are a business activity and should be treated as such. Although this article comes after tax season, it’s a great starting point in preparation for next season. There are many deductions you can take to reduce your taxable income. Some common deductions for artists include the following:

Office Expenses: If you have a studio or work from home, you may be able to deduct the cost of your home office.

code (711510 for writers). Below is a partial list of professional codes for the arts. Please visit www.irs.gov for a complete listing.

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, & Related Industries 711410

Agents & managers for artists, athletes, entertainers, & other public figures

711510

Independent artists, writers, & performers

711100

Performing arts companies

711300

Promoters of performing arts, sports, & similar events

711210

Spectator sports (including professional sports clubs & racetrack operation

Finances and taxes can be an overwhelming task. Don’t stress over it, there are resources available for the creative minds. Take thirty minutes a week to organize receipts and you should be ready for next tax season. If you don’t have an accountant, reach out to your local volunteer lawyers and accounts for the arts chapter. The St. Louis chapters’ website is: www.vlaa.org.

Supplies: All artists have supplies. These are the items you use up in less than a year. Examples include:

paint brush, printer ink and paper.

Subscriptions: Magazine and journal subscriptions useful to your business may be deducted. Agent fees: Many writers have literary agents; you may deduct all the fees the agent charges. Legal and professional services: Fees paid to lawyers, editors, accountants, consultants may be deducted if the fees pertain to your business. Website and design: The cost of designing, hosting and maintaining a website can be deducted if it’s used to promote your business. Depreciation: If you purchase an asset with a useful life greater than a year, you may deduct the cost of the asset over its useful life. Examples of depreciable property include computers, office furniture and the van used for mobile art shows. These are a few examples of deductions available to artist. Please consult a tax professional for a complete listing. Deductions are recorded on the Schedule C -profit and loss from business (sole proprietorship). On the Schedule C be sure to include your profession pg.

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

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To celeb rate the 40

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Aubrey ALLIC

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rsar y s of S its first-e eason ver Cent aint Louis, of Ope er Stage t h exclusive e compan concert, ra but to ke ly featur y is presenti a one-ni ep it brie es singer Gaddes n g g ht-only e f and to s from it Festival fo u n d a the point v s t ent on t Artists p ion of th Gerdine are focu I would e h r Y o a m t oung Ar grams. Th sed on c c u h s o i c o tell them sing to w first. 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Wh your tale ock, who SL’s 2015 produ I pion and g r at was it e w n t? up watch ction of L wowed O made his Mamoud in a g TSL aud p a Metropo in The D o n ssessed o d listenin iences in lita eath of K Theatre ne of the g to my m 2013 in 2011. singing a linghoffe n Opera debut b e other sin s t voices I this past nd her fo r, a role h g in chur have eve fall as nd mem e first pla path to w ch. She r heard. o r i yed at O h e s e “As a G I r o t e f w I h a ig a s m t p h hr s era I come fr t YA from om a fam oday. My family chool choir that s ough her 2 to be th e h i t ly e many 009-2010, my a s me on m o s always that has glad to b fondest bonds I y b r fellow G e e e e a a n ll b y v le e n r m to share ever hea made w y encour month fr emories YA’S, a t r a h it d g i n o h would h s o ing. m a toug d the am “I think OTSL’s ave h battle w gift with them. B pera before, and of over the ar az I’m country. efore my ith cance best pro OTSL as my ho ing patrons of tistic staff, my Dad pas He was s r in me an O gram fo me, my t last o very pr , he was able to s d is now r young base, a TSL,” says Allic o e e u a nd retre singers d m p o o a e c f r p k t m e . o r e, and hi f my art at. It’s in Amer Allicock s memor form all form. truly the ica.” If I were is joinin y lives on no gS is taking into the c t a singer, I would place Tu tephanie Blythe as a co-h esd ulinary a interview ost for th rts. I en have either studi lo , Allicoc ay, June 23 at th v e t o jo c ed Britis ee reate in t e Loretto ks young ar h he kitche y learning histor -Hilton C vent, which tists, and peaks of his gos y as a wh history or gone n. pel begin enter. In contemp operatic o le, and I this nin lates how Outside world. really of Maria he will le gs, gives advice n to ave his m Graves, A n d erson and Jessy ark on th You mad e Norma , Leontyne Pric e America e your d e, Eri n, it no ebu in The D plan to le pera singers kno seems that there c Owens, Denyc eath of K t at the Metropo e a wn in th ave your linghoffe litan Op What wa e mainst ren’t many Afric era r, a mark? st ream wo an Louis to hat experience li role you first pla this fall as Mamo rld – how ke This is a arguably y ud do you very true the bigge , bringing that p ed here in St. Lo you lear uis. s st opera n? art of yo t a a n t e d m t ry to b ent. I urself fro compan y in the m St. stand ou e a successful op t really is not eas w o rld? Wh e y t as muc Making at did h as poss ra singer. One m to be young, bla my Metr limited. ib ck, u le s o I t make e , p p professio a o very effo myself an lan to leave my m s roles we may b nal debu litan Opera deb r t to ec ut in a ro t d ar nervous le that I , and I fe in with OTSL m over the my life path. I, li k in the world of onsidered for are m a lt o k d o ve a pe e re e me a v p this once ery lucky de my path will ra world. Nor d many other singe era by staying tr ry in a lifet ady. Which actu ue to ow rs, gu im us ally allow was also times. T e us and for how e have the option do not have con ed me to y! I wasn’t very won e experience of t o a rol lo relax and de to choose r M who also closed. Th emain vulnerable ng. My plan is to e how this have dee rful to work with etropolitan Ope , li s ra debut njoy p roots w i o t fe me very colleagu s a pen, and y true to for me is . It es and st ith OTSL comfort n m t e h v y e e s e g r lf o a a a aff llow mys a l. . ble and le the cont elf to bec t all rov d to very All of these circu at the MET Where d ome o you se mstance successfu and com ersy this opera c e your ca sm l what role r municat reer taki ion with eated in New Yo performances. D ade do you c colleagu ng you i r t k u h o es, were v , e e n e I s t a n i o le u t d n the ne u d arned th er to be re into a ience co hated by created a xt five ye y a n m o t o u honesty es first. t r many fo h d e p r r lot of me la e genre of ars, am role? nted in t I, alongs r singing dia buzz MET du m h W e opera w usic, or d ide my ould you and the roles and led t e to prot o o e rld? you feel of terr ests oa screamin your fee ver In the ne g during . There was even historic opening orists. It t a r e firmly xt five ye the perfo n a lone ri aria. Bu a r oter who ight at the t in that rmance b s a I c s k ee myself to the U.S just as I mo chose to audience singing m . I’ve bee was begi begin I . No ma ment I made a c fe ll ore often n in n living in ning my love with hoice to c tter how with, wh in B first e t r h evil they ommuni li e a en I finis n b h fo s i olutely co story, the r the pas Europe with trips cate with thought hed they views of n t c s u fe ider bran lture, an the char the saw him other gen the world d ways o w months and ching ou acter wa as a real r . e s o f t f li s in m fe here. t t o person w usic. Befo o my opera I would ith deep begin r e t i I The Cen c b t e r gan aining I ly rooted ter Stage music fo s a n g gospel r ye concert and Rich is focuse singing a ars. It wasn’t he ard Gad d a des Festiv ll the tim on show singers w cas e, but it s lthy al fun! ho are h ure was oping to Artists. What is ing the talents o f GYAs your adv make th eir mark ice to yo First of a u i n n g the oper ll, CENTE a world? emcee th I’m thrilled and fe e center e l so hono Tuesday, R STAGE stage con program r e Ju d to hav cert that taug Loretto- ne 23, 8:00 pm ht me ho alongside Stepha e been chosen to H i co w to craw n opera-st lton Center l, walk, a ie Blythe. This w world. Th l.org/cen as a nd now r ter-stage ere is a lo un in the / t of advi opera ce I could give to yo unger sin gers, A pg.

ubrey Photo: as Mamoud in Klin Ken H ghoffe oward r at O . TS

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ART OFOF FOOD ART FOOD

Time to

MASTER

I’ve been a foodie for many years, and a passion for food + cooking even longer than that. Over time I’ve tried so many different variations of the same dish that it becomes hard to distinguish which version is my favorite. Because of that I’ve been on a mission to find and/or develop the “perfect” recipe. It’s even to the point now, where I have a specific board on my Pinterest titled “vs”. I have countless pins of the same dish or dessert, but different versions of them all. There are a several dishes that I want to master, that I can add to my repertoire. I want to get the recipes down so well, that it’s the best version of the dish that people have tasted. On my list of dishes to master are: fried chicken, chocolate chip & peanut butter cookies, risotto, soufflés and lasagna, just to name a few. There are thousands of different variations of these dishes and hundreds of ways to tweak them until it’s perfection. A lot of times the best way to develop the greatest recipe is to experiment until it tastes the way that YOU want it to. Combine recipes, switch out ingredients, add/remove spices, change quantities, etc. I finally decided to try and master one of the dishes on my “Time To Master” list: meatballs. I’ve been trying to find the perfect homemade meatball recipe but never could find one that sounded right. So instead I combined 3 different recipes; and for my 1st attempt, it turned out deliciously good. I will always find ways to tweak it and make it better, but for now, let me share.

Me personally, I do not eat beef, so I substituted ground beef with ground turkey and chicken. This recipe is also doubled because I decided to cook this dish for 10 people, so if you need to cut it in half and adjust it, please do so. Depending on how you scoop the meatballs out, this recipe should yield about 40+. You can use a (small) ice cream scooper to help control the size of your portions. At least this way you won’t have 5 different sized meatballs. pg.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Ground Turkey 1 lb. Ground Chicken 6 Garlic Cloves, minced 2 Eggs 4 tsp Italian Seasoning ~½C Italian Parsley, fresh & chopped 4 oz Mozzarella Cheese, cut into bite-sized pieces *I used 4 (1oz) string cheese pieces ½ C Bread Crumbs ~½C Shallot or Onion, finely diced 2 Tb Tomato Paste 2 tsp Salt, or to taste 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper, or to taste 2(28oz) can Crushed Tomatoes ~½ C Oil (olive, canola, vegetable… whichever you prefer for a light frying)

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TIME TO MASTER cont.

Directions: 1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (F). Set aside a large casserole baking dish. 2. Heat ½ C of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Allow the oil to simmer, this allows the oil to get very hot while you prepare the meatballs. 3. In a large bowl combine ground turkey and chicken meat, the minced garlic, eggs, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and bread crumbs. (The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape when rolled or scooped into meatballs.) 4. Scoop 1 Tbsp of meat into a small ball. Press a piece of cheese in the center, then cover it with another piece of meat, roll to seal in the cheese. Repeat with all the remaining cheese and meat. 5. Fry the meatballs in batches in the hot oil; approximately 2 minutes on each side. 6. Place semi-cooked meatballs into the casserole dish, pour a generous amount of the crushed tomato sauce on top of the meatballs. Bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, or until they’re cooked through. Serve with your favorite pasta & top it off with chopped parsley and grated/shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese. For those of you who don’t like the way jarred/canned tomato sauce tastes or if you simply want to “jazz” it up, here’s a simple recipe. Heat a small amount of oil in a small pot, add about 3 cloves of minced garlic and diced onions (about ¼ C) & sauté until garlic is golden brown + fragrant. Add crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper, ½ tsp sugar, 2 tsp Italian seasoning and ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes and stir well. Simmer the sauce for about 9 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Feel free to add spices like garlic pepper, onion powder, dried oregano, etc. Whatever you want to experiment with, until it makes your taste buds happy!)

Bon Appétit,

Doré

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St. Louis is a melting pot of cultures and food. From German to Soul Food, there is a restaurant to satisfy every appetite. Below are a couple eateries and the foods that they do well. Sweetie Pies

Everyone has heard of Sweetie Pies through the reality show on Oprah’s network. The most favored are the wings and macaroni and cheese.

Pappy’s Smokehouse

As seen on the Food Network, if you want great barbeque, check them out (there will be a line). While there try the Frito Pie, for a cheat day satisfaction.

ea t St. Louis Longhorn Steakhouse

I’m sure you’ve all been to Longhorn for the steak or prime rib. Next time try the stuffed mushrooms.

Mandarin House

If you love chinese, you will love the atmosphere and fine dining experience here. A favorite is the roast duck, try it and let us know how you like it. From Left to Right:

There is so much to do and experience in St. Louis. This week stop into a restaurant you have never been to and try something different.

Sweetie Pies (multiple locations- photo taken at Mangrove)

http://sweetiepieskitchen.com Papy’s Smokehouse

www.pappyssmokehouse.com Longhorn Steakhouse (multiple locations- photo taken at the Mills)

www.longhornsteakhouse.com/locations/mo/hazelwood/hazelwood-stlouis-mills/5228 The Mandarin House - Overland Plaza

www.stlouismandarinhouse.com pg.

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Art of Healing

Your Ad or Article could be here!

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e v i s r u C riting W is NOT Required in Schools

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Selena J How to OWN Your Day

Selena J Spiritual Consultant/Founder The Meditation Lounge 3617 Grandel Square, Suite 203 St. Louis, MO, 63108 314-441-6929 Selenaj@selenaj.com www.meditationloungestl.com pg.

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Volume 2.4 June 4, 2015

Reflecting On

Life and Death

In 1965 when Barbara Mason pinned the three words which turned out to be her first and biggest hit, “Are You Ready,” coupled with an applicable and resounding response of “Yes, I’m ready,” who would have thought it would be relevant to Christians. Though her motivation for writing and the backdrop which lended itself to this popular tune’s creation are vastly different from our subject today, the question (or call) and more so the answer (or response), I believe, is indicative of the conversation that all of us will have. Therefore, it is also one for. Which we must prepare ourselves for one day. If we use our sanctified imagination, I believe Mason’s lyrics are symbolic of the conversation our dearly departed have had with the Lord as they prepared to transition from earthly labors to heavenly reward!

Are you ready?

The Lord inquires.

Yes, I am ready!

The Saint responds.

You see, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 .a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Believers must understand this ideology related to time so as to redeem it wisely. After all, even the secular popular saying says: “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.” So when our time and moment with the Master occurs regarding the Dash on our tombstone, we will be at peace. This peace is preceded by planning and preparing. We must study God’s Word. We ought to be faithful to the Lord’s work and church. As a result, the gleaned wisdom and knowledge will help us understand what the 5 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 understood. That is, some things are a mystery- including The hour of our demise. It is an unknown hour, and God’s people must be ready. Being ready means preparing for whatever contingency arises in our lives and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus (Our ever present help in times of trouble). Our biggest legacy should be having lived a life in Christ, teaching others how to live a life in such a way that when it’s time for The Master’s Final Talk, we don’t have to “make things right” (get more oil) when He calls us home; rather, we are prepared and ready! Being ready when The Master inquires, “Are you ready?” is simple. It merely means we must be born again through saving faith in Jesus Christ - His death, burial and literal resurrection from the dead (John 3:16; 14:6; Romans 10:9 and 10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:110). A saving faith in Jesus Christ will manifest itself in every aspect of our lives. Too numerous to share here, but it definitely includes the manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Then, in our last days, we will not be afraid. Why? Those who live in Christ gain the victory (John 14:1-3). Those who live in Christ enter a final rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). Those who live in Christ truly love (1 Cor. 13) and have an unwavering hope. So I will close my pondering as I begin, “Are you ready?” I pray you are prepared now to say, “Yes, I’m Ready.” After all, REVELATION 14:13 (ESV) says: And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” Quotes, paraphrases and commentary used from the following resources: 1. Christian Minister’s Manual 2. Michael Morrison article (Copyright 2002) Grace Communion International. 3. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com 4. Gotquestions.org “What is the meaning of the Parable of the Ten Virgins?” By Sista Rev. Denita E. Robinson SIGMA City-Wide Women’s Ministry (Sistas In God Mirroring Abba) Website: www.sigmasistas.com pg.

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

$15.00 paperback

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

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Fitness Boss & First Civilization

Monthly Health Tip! Written by : Tracee Green, Fitness Boss, LLC

How much water should I really drink?

One of the most controversial topics in the world of weight loss surrounds one of nature’s oldest resources and that is exactly how much water a person should drink. Well there is a simple rule of thumb I tend to follow and that is to drink half my body weight! I stick to this because typically if I am drinking that much water in a day I do not have room to drink many other things especially drinks that are mostly made of sugar. Here are the top 5 benefits of drinking water! 1. Natural Appetite Suppressant Water is one of the most purest forms of an appetite suppressant. Alot of times when you believe you are hungry you’re simply thirsty. Make it a rule of thumb to drink a glass of water prior to every meal, wait at least 30 minutes before eating and you’ll notice you either aren’t as hungry as you thought or not hungry at all, just dehydrated!!! 2. Skin Hydration Drinking water every day is a natural hydrator. This is the first anti-aging serum you should choose and the majority of the time it’s absolutely free! When our bodies are dehydrated our skin will reflect it just like a flower that isn’t receiving water, it withers. Your skin will do the same thing, it has to be hydrated just like every other living thing and your skin is a giant organ that requires water to stay hydrated. 3. Increase in Energy Water helps contribute to the relief of fatigue. Low energy is another symptom of dehydration and a lot of times when your energy is low you automatically reach for a beverage high in caffeine, this should not be your first choice. Reach for water! It keeps your energy levels high by feeding your dehydration 4. Improved Complexion Soda and drinks high in sugar can cause inflammation of acne or other skin conditions. Drinking more water and less of the sugary drinks helps your skin complexion and you will begin to glow from the inside out. 5. Toxin Release Water flushes out the toxins in your body that cause urinary tract infections and other urinary problems. The more you release these toxins from your body the less likely you will have complications of urinary disorders. Use the below tips to make your water more enjoyable • Create a detox water: Take 2 liters of water and slice up 1 cucumber, 1 lemon and 10 mint leaves. Leave overnight for a refreshing drink • Create infused water Take a gallon of water or your daily water cup and slice up strawberries, pineapples, mangos or any fruit you desire and DRINK UP!

Now that summer is here make sure you’re getting enough water every day to stay completely hydrated! Make sure you visit www.bossfitnessmovement.com to learn more about our upcoming Fitness and Wellness Expo where you’ll get tips like the above and much more!

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Artist

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John Jennings

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Situation Report: from a Culture of Reading

part

Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this son of York; And all the clouds that low’r’d upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. Richard III

Unlike Richard, contemporary readers need not be “subtle, false and treacherous” unto themselves and the worlds they inhabit. They need not pretend those worlds are either peaceful or private spaces, immune to terrors made with alacrity by other, literate human beings. The hyperbole of Reginald Martin’s title Everybody Knows What Time It Is becomes a truism in the process of daily reading, especially if what you are reading is not a political document, an analysis of skills, prowess, and trash talk in one sport or another, a scientific treatise, or an essay informed by valid evidence. That is to say, if you are reading what proclaims itself to be “literature,” you are counting privileged nanoseconds of duration. People who read “writing” count plain minutes of time. I value writing more than literature, because writing is a more accurate representation (gesture) of how historical consciousness marks off trails. Writing that empowers is often excluded from lists of bestsellers. So be it. The writing that is important for my culture of reading does not fit into any single canon, because it follows the Drinking Gourd and quits the merely fashionable, post-whatever plantations of the Western academy and looks for sanctuary elsewhere. Fortunately, a considerable amount of writing in 2015 has abandoned slave space for regions where inevitable “enslavement” is minimal. Anticipate more flight in 2016. There is no known human space can where writing can locate absolute freedom, but that fact does not preclude noble efforts to discover ideal places of more than four dimensions. Necessary writing is very comfortable with the advancing theories of physics. To begin with poetry. Honorée Fannone Jeffers’s fourth collection The Glory Gets (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2015) is valuable blues and womanist testimony regarding the endurance of the abused peoples of the Earth. As the elders would say, we must be still to carry and absorb the weight of Jeffers’s craft, which doesn’t err in being craft-forcraft’s sake. We can expect a similar dropping of knowledge in Treasure Shields Redmond’s “Chop: 30 Kwansabas for Fannie Lou Hamer,” which won the Winged City Chapbook Contest; it will be published by Argus House Press in Fall 2015. From LSU Press in November comes All Souls: Essential Poems by Brenda Marie Osbey, a much-needed record of her consistent excellence in a tradition of African American poetry that wants attention. The work that Osbey, Redmond, and Jeffers do to anchor us in remembering is complemented by Philip Kolin’s Emmett Till in Different States (forthcoming from Third World Press). His book takes us into the Mississippi territory of abrasive recall mapped by Redmond’s tribute to Fannie Lou Hamer. It can be said that writing by Kolin, Osbey, Redmond, and Jeffers takes us to the spaces where language gives birth to images of iconic moments in America’s violent past. These images morph into the bullet and blood photographs of the terrible present. And these visuals for the mind’s eye take us to the certain dread of existential futures. As writing, the poetry of now forces us to abandon excuses and assume the

onus of reckoning and payback actions. We do not have to dismiss the recent angles and topologies of ascent claimed by poetry as literature, the motions that flee from or seek to trivialize the fires of the Black Arts Movement legacy. Such literature can travel to the post-Elizabethan bosom of some ocean of opportunity. Can it stay there forever is a question without an answer. Two recent anthologies are devoted to poetry that is more akin to” writing” than to “literature.” What I Say: Innovative Poetry by Black Writers in America (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2015), edited by Aldon Lynn Nielsen and Lauri Ramey and The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2015), edited by Kevin Coval, Quraysh Ali Lansana, and Nate Marshall. From quite different angles, the books deconstruct and reconstruct the once simple idea of “writing” (acting or performing in print). The heavy question that applies to both is: WHAT IS INNOVATIVE POETRY? The word “innovative” is not an easy substitute for the word “experimental.” Even if it were, we are required to ask INNOVATIVE FOR WHOM AND ON WHAT GROUNDS? The word must be contextualized so as to expose the motives for using it. C. S. Giscombe’s introduction for What I Say has its own integrity as a statement on aesthetic experimentation; it is rightly addressed to an audience that values “the difficult.” And we get another question: FOR WHOM IS WHAT DIFFICULT? On the other hand, Kevin Coval’s introduction for The BreakBeat Poets reminds one of the pioneering explanations in Eugene Redmond’s Drumvoices: The Mission of AfroAmerican Poetry. Coval is very clear in saying his anthology is by and for the hip hop generation, a generation that constantly seeks alternative spaces for expression, and that the anthology has an unfinished mission. The debate about the innovative must go forth, and I hope the two anthologies will exist in parahistorical harmony. By the way, “parahistory” is a concept that I attribute to the historian Lerone Bennett. Part 2 of this situation report will deal with some special narratives. Dr. Jerry W. Ward, Jr. June 1, 2015

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To the slave, revolution is an imperative, a love-inspired, conscious act of desperation. It’s aggressive. It isn’t “cool” or cautious. It’s bold, audacious, violent, an expression of icy, disdainful hatred! It can hardly be any other way without raising a fundamental contradiction. George Jackson, Blood in My Eye (1972)

Serendipity allows you to happen upon humorous insights. Ralph Ellison was one of the most elegant prose writers of the twentieth-century. You find aesthetic pleasure in his writing as well as less than obvious evidence of self-contradiction. From time to time, Ellison was out to brunch. In his essay “Stephen Crane and the Mainstream of American Fiction” (1960), Ellison justly praised Crane for looking “steadily at the wholeness of American life” and for discovering “far-reaching symbolic equivalents for its unceasing state of civil war.” Fifty-five years later, you find the symbolic equivalents have escaped from the page and refashioned themselves as dedicated efforts to target and murder Black American males (and a lesser number of females), particularly those who are young and unarmed. Patriotic yearnings demand this holocaust. Ellison nailed the metaphor of war. When Ellison reviewed Blues People by LeRoi Jones in 1964, he thought Jones erred in giving “little attention to the blues as lyric, as a form of poetry.” Moreover, Jones placed “the tremendous burden of sociology…upon this body of music” and that error was “enough to give even the blues the blues.” It may be the case that in this instance Jones was more intelligent than Ellison in bringing historical consciousness to bear upon music and ethos in America’s “state of civil war.” History not sociology. It may also be the case that multicultural writing that is worthy of notice in 2015 struggles in the bloody combat zones of Jones/Baraka as a prelude to rest and recuperation in Ellison’s palace of wisdom. “Writing” values “literature” by signifying on the battlefront. Like the young Frederick Douglass, Ellison was in a circle that prevented his hearing what he was seeing. The explanatory narrative of Blues People illuminates certain grounds of existence that have informed and will continue to inform “writing” (nonfiction and fiction) that refuses to tell brazen lies about its parents and kinfolks. Much to his credit, LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka did not compromise with imitations of life. On the poetic side of the coin, you find such ruthlessness wonderfully crafted witnessing of lived experiences in the blues/jazz poetry of Sterling D. Plumpp, poetry that some blues musicians judge worthy to be transformed for their audiences [listen to Plumpp’s “911” as recorded by Willie Kent on the CD Too Hurt to Cry (Delmark DE 667)]. Flip the coin. On its fiction/nonfiction/ autobiographical side appears The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood (New York: Atria Books, 2015), a memoir that merits pre-future applause and critique. The book will be available in November. I take the liberty of quoting some of the pre-publication material:

the horrific poverty of his youth, his struggles to overcome a legacy of anger, violence, and self-hatred, and his journey to be a man and a voice for others. Driven by his single mother’s dreams for his survival and success, Powell became the first in his family to attend a university, where he became a student leader keenly aware of widespread social injustice. But the struggle to define himself and break out of poverty continued into adulthood, with traumatic periods of homelessness and despair. As a young star journalist with Vibe magazine, Powell interviewed luminaries such as Tupac Shakur, writing influential chronicles of the evolution of hiphop from his eyewitness view. Now, with searing honesty, Powell examines his troubled relationships, his appearance on MTV’s first season of “The Real World,” his battles with alcohol and depression, his two campaigns for Congress, and the uplifting trip to Africa that renewed his sense of personal mission. Finally, Powell embarks on a search for the father he never really knew in a redemptive passage from abandonment to self-discovery. A striking memoir by a child of post-Civil Rights America, The Education of Kevin Powell gives eloquent testimony to the power of the soul to heal. ~~~

“Poignant and powerful. This story of Black male life in our patriarchal culture, from boyhood to manhood, is raw and passionate. It offers a true and honest portrait of all that Black males endure to survive and, more importantly, to cope with trauma, and to heal and thrive. It should be read by everyone who claims to care about the fate of Black males in America.” —bell hooks

In my culture of reading, Powell’s book will be juxtaposed with one that appeared seventy years ago, namely Richard Wright’s Black Boy (1945). To recycle words from bell hooks’s blurb, you can say Powell’s book and Wright’s classic autobiography “should be read by everyone who claims to care about the fate of Black males in America.” The pronoun everyone should include President Obama, all the Republican candidates for 2016, and most certainly Hillary Clinton. And Black Boy serves as the touchstone for measuring Powell’s achievement. Perhaps we shall be able to say of Powell what Wright said of George Lamming and In the Castle of My Skin (1953): to paraphrase and quote ---“…as an artist,” Powell has In the spirit of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Frank “stubborn courage; and in him a new writer takes his place in the literary world.” McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, and Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets, this powerful memoir by writer and activist Kevin Powell vividly recounts pg.

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Powell, of course, already has a place in the literary world, but that place must be secured again and again by way of transnational commentary and vernacular conversation in the barbershop. I suspect The Education of Kevin Powell is about something more than the permanent “civil/civic war “in the urban spaces of the United States. I suspect the book will, if serendipity works, move us to ponder the dynamics of international wretchedness. Our narrative is global not local, although our first order of action must be in our neighborhoods. Attending to the global sprawl of our concerns is imperative, because international cultural economies do impact what we produce and how we live and/or die. When we engage contemporary “writing” in fiction, we are obligated to say that street literature has a germinal, historic role in literary politics. Reading Street Lit: Representing the Urban Landscape (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2014), edited by Keenan Norris, clears away academic tear gas and reveals the challenging diversity of “writing” as it complements the heliocentric desires of “literature.” All “writing” is not street literature, and the proof would be such novels as Keenan Norris’s Brother and the Dancer (2013), James E. Cherry’s Shadow of Light (2007), Olympia Vernon’s A Killing in This Town (2006) and Jabari Asim’s forthcoming Only the Strong: An American Novel (Chicago: Bolden, 2015). To be sure, it can be argued, as Norris does, that the “literary” ancestors for street literature include Paul Laurence Dunbar, Raymond Chandler, Ann Petry, Chester Himes, and Dashiell Hammett. I would add Theodore Dreiser and James T. Farrell. Ultimately, whether we “improve” our mindscapes with literature or with writing depends on individual tastes and the suspect ideologies of literary commerce. To circle back to the beginning like a novel by James Joyce, I believe that Blues People is as important as Invisible Man or William Melvin Kelley’s Dunsfords Travels Everywheres for grasping how we give meaning to our experiences of temporality, limitations, vices and virtues, and personal actions by constructing episodes. Dr. Jerry W. Ward, Jr. June 2, 2015

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THE EDUCATION OF KEVIN POWELL: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood Pre-order the book NOW (the official publication date is Tuesday, November 3, 2015): Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Jbxdke B&N: http://bit.ly/1G6PSrb BAM: http://bit.ly/1DdhloW Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1Ebt4ti iBooks: http://apple.co/1HUHJea Google Play: http://bit.ly/1butgcJ In the spirit of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, and Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets, this powerful memoir by writer and activist Kevin Powell vividly recounts the horrific poverty of his youth, his struggles to overcome a legacy of anger, violence, and self-hatred, and his journey to be a man and a voice for others. Driven by his single mother’s dreams for his survival and success, Powell became the first in his family to attend a university, where he became a student leader keenly aware of widespread social injustice. But the struggle to define himself and break out of poverty continued into adulthood, with traumatic periods of homelessness and despair. As a young star journalist with Vibe magazine, Powell interviewed luminaries such as Tupac Shakur, writing influential chronicles of the evolution of hiphop from his eyewitness view. Now, with searing honesty, Powell examines his troubled relationships, his appearance on MTV’s first season of “The Real World,” his battles with alcohol and depression, his two campaigns for Congress, and the uplifting trip to Africa that renewed his sense of personal mission. Finally, Powell embarks on a search for the father he never really knew in a redemptive passage from abandonment to self-discovery. A striking memoir by a child of post-Civil Rights America, The Education of Kevin Powell gives eloquent testimony to the power of the soul to heal.

~~~

“The Education of Kevin Powell is a raw, deeply painful accounting of a life born of poverty, racism, abandonment, abuse, and complicated love. It is a memoir as much about a mother as it is about her son, a memoir born out of stunning writing and surprising vulnerability. A memoir of rage and insight, heartbreak and hunger. Powerful, brave, and unforgettable.” —Eve Ensler

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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.

AfroWorld is an African-American owned and operated cultural and fashion center located in St. Louis. It was founded in 1970 and has been a space where the community can come to learn, share, and shop! In 2015 we are proud to celebrate our 45th year of service to our customers. AfroWorld needs your support so we can continue to have the funds necessary to market, operate, and sustain high quality cultural education programs that support our network of authors and artists who participate in our ongoing community empowerment series. We also want to purchase computers and materials to increase the efficiency of our outreach efforts, educate the next generation of community entrepreneurs, and upgrade the tech equipment used to produce our events and programs. Your financial commitment allows AfroWorld to continue its legacy of bringing people together in a space that celebrates and uplifts the African-American experience.

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#BlackMamaBurden :A Short Story

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#BLACKMAMABURDEN cont.

PRESENTS

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CLAYTON-LADUE ROTARY CLUB

the joy of putting down their devices and playing together as a family.

A play about families playing together. Produced by special arrangement with DRAMATIC PUBLISHING, Woodstock Illinois

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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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Gianis LalSandhu, Realtor

Alexander Realty | St. Charles, Missouri | ph: 636-669-1717 | 314-437-8576 The first of a two part article for renters who want to become homeowners.

FE PR AT OP UR ER ED TY

Alexander Realty St. Charles, Missouri | ph: 636-669-1717 | 314-437-8576

Everything First-Time Home Buyers Need to Know You Can Not Afford To Procrastinate: BUY NOW! Buying a home costs money. Lots of money. There’s the down payment and the monthly mortgage payment and the maintenance and taxes and the insurance and… Are you overwhelmed yet? It might seem like so much that you just want to put off the house hunt and sign that yearlong lease with your landlord (even though he upped your rent 25% and will likely do the same next year). But this is going to blow your mind: Even with all of those costs, you still stand to save more than $200,000 over the next 30 years if you buy right now.

purchase Postpone for one year, and you’re losing out on an esti mated $18,672 in savings. Delay for three years, and that figure jumps to $54,879. “We’re at a critical juncture: Rents, home prices, and mortgage rates are all expected to rise significantly over the next several years. No matter how you slice it, you can’t deny a few key facts that make the case for buying: Nationally, it’s cheaper right now to buy than to rent, home prices are expected to appreciate, and, while renting is subject to inflation, homeownership costs are locked.

“But that’s over the course of 30 years!” you say. “I’m thinking about my money right now!” you say.

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Well, get this: Wait just one year, and you throw nearly $19,000 in savings down the drain. The penalties are so high because mortgage rates are forecast to increase and because home prices are rising quickly, according to real estate industry chief economist, Jonathan Smoke. Don’t be mistaken! There is definitely a financial benefit and, similarly, a financial penalty—for every single day you pay your landlord instead of your mortgage company. At a national level, the 30-year financial benefit of owning today is $217,726, according to our economic data analysts, who crunched the numbers to determine the relative merits of buying vs. renting. This analysis does not consider qualitative advantages such as more control over your living situation, flexibility with pets, and, generally, more options. These are all things that potential home buyers, especially first time home buyers consider important when deliberating whether to

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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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fighting crime. Furthermore, presumed criminals also have rights and too frequently deadly force is employed based on suspicion.

The Stop and Frisk practice in New York City, significantly curtailed last year,

Black

and

Blue

Seeks to Pierce the National Conscious Black and Blue Seeks to

Pierce the National Conscious

is an offshoot of racial profiling. Stop and Frisk is based on the Broken

Windows concept of James Q. Wilson and George L. Killing. It essentially asserts that if you quickly address small things such as broken windows and litter in a community, it can be an effective strategy in promoting a higher quality of community life. As a broken window left unattended is an indication that nobody cares and eventually the community will be more vulnerable to

Driving while Black has recently gained traction in the arena of public opinion. Although, polls continue to show too many persist -- mostly non-people of

criminal invasion. Policing began to draw from this approach as a crime reduction strategy but not on objects such as windows and litter but on people.

color -- in supporting unsavory and predatory police practices that target African Americans and other people of color. Still, the issue has vaulted to the front news pages and other media. Social media have really jumped on this and frequently more established outlets are taking their cues from them. Hence, this issue probably won’t go away anytime soon.

In Missouri, Blacks are about 12 percent of the state’s population and Whites are about 84 percent. Yet during 2014, Black motorists were 75 percent more likely than Whites to be pulled over by law enforcement officers, according to the Missouri Vehicles Stops, an annual report put out by the Office of the Missouri Attorney General. Unfortunately, since 2013 these numbers have

“To be a black driver in America is to invite police scrutiny, as thousands are daily singled out for groundless pull-overs, ‘pretext’ stops, and subjected to

increased by nine percent. What are the reasons for these troublesome increases? Specialists in the field are still grappling with this. As Richard Pryor

intrusive, warrantless searches and abusive treatment by police,” said Jeffrey St. Clair, in his August 2013 article, A Very Short History of Driving While Black

– Scenes From the Highway Profiling Patrol.

The more official term for Driving While Black is “Racial Profiling,” a law

enforcement practice regularly used and justified without compunction. Suffice it to say, it’s way overdue that we put an end to this hyper-racist form of victimizing everyday law-abiding citizens to raise revenue under the guise of pg.

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so famously weighed in: “Justice is just us.”

This pattern of profiling drivers

Officer Darren Wilson was initially in his police car when he approach Brown

by race is not just particular to one state; it’s pretty much the entire nation.

on foot. Many residents had been ticketed for jaywalking and other walking violations, what police view as walking in a suspicious manner or “manner of

Racial profiling ought to be thoroughly explored and examined drilling as deep as it goes wide, plumbing the various and sundry rationales for this policy and

walking along roadway.” For example, a recent report revealed that Blacks accounted for two thirds of Ferguson’s population but 95 percent of jaywalking

practice. For one, it has no place in a modern democracy. Excessive and

charges.

unwarranted violations of human rights and dignities cast a terrible light on a country that prides itself in liberty, equality, freedom and democracy. And

The playwright, Lee Patton Chiles, a courageous truth-teller, culled many news

while the U.S. certainly doesn’t officially sanction race bias in the justice system

reports, information and original materials, inter-weaving a backstory that

or any other institution for that matter, in reality it’s all over the place, cutting

speaks to these trying times, honing in on the brutal realities of Ferguson. It’s a

across virtually every institution, from the media, educational, financial, and

complex issue, legally and ethically, rising in a national chorus of outrage, yet

others. Now the spotlight is more on law enforcement because their practices

with no simple solution, therefore solving the problem moves glacially slow.

can literally be deadly.

Recalcitrant lawmakers, prosecutors, police union leaders and other decision makers compound resolution by slowing down the process.

It’s interesting how the art world has taken on this issue from paintings, music, poetry, writings and now theater. Gitano Production with its spirited and

May 22 was the premier of the play at the Missouri History Museum in Forest

passionate leader, Cecilia Nadal, has produced a piece of socio/political

Park. Black and Blue will run through June 21 at various venues throughout

theater, Black and Blue, about policing in the Black community, spawned by

the area. This highly publicized gritty and riveting drama chronicled mostly

the Michael Brown tragedy August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Interestingly enough, he was not driving, but walking. The investigation of the Brown

Ferguson, a hop, skip and a jump from the city of St. Louis and just enough to

murder actually revealed another transgression of Walking While Black!

have a bit of snob appeal, was a place, a charming and quiet little village, once

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Black life in the suburbs as it bumps up against a hyper-vigilant police force.

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One of the plays most memorable scenes, is a Black mother, a lawyer, who has

thought to be immune from the vicissitudes of hardscrabble urbanity.

to school her two young sons -- who have never been any trouble -- on how to

Seemingly, it was all an illusion as many of the same conditions that caused

avoid danger from peering neighbors or the police themselves who overly

Black residents to flee harsh city life, followed them into these inner-ring

scrutinize particularly young Black males and like with Michael Brown

suburbs. Soon confronted by a hostile police force is a case in point.

something could quickly get out of hand.

Creating a patchwork of vignettes, the saga seeks to make sense of the twists Of course there are the activists, the sine qua non of street-level activism,

and turns of an on-going quagmire. People are still mired (caught in a tornado

galvanizing social change. The married couple, the woman is White, the man

of confusion and distress) yet struggling to gain their bearings. But it has become increasingly apparent, that the problem has to be confronted head-on.

is Black, and her uncertainties albeit insecurities about their sons’ future particularly if their fairly tawny skin gets darker. Some of the actors were

It makes no sense to flee to another suburb, like the tail winds of a speeding

trained while others were plucked from the Ferguson upheaval to play out

vehicle, it’s likely to follow them wherever they go.

scenes reminiscent of grassroots energy that ”birthed a movement.” Then there was the rapper who brought it on home with this modern and strident

Hence, the play’s recurring theme and even the design backdrop of the stage

musical genre that rocks this full-throated performance.

setting, conveyed the message: “We’re at a cross-road.” In other words, some crucial decisions are going to have to be made, as life for Black suburbanites

Players of a broad age range include Garrett Bergfeld, Jamie Fritz, Michael,

cannot continue this way. It’s too brutal, too corrupt and immoral.

Bryce Goodloe Griev, Daniel Johnson, Jeanitta Perkins, Bobby Williams, L.A. Williams and Katie Younge.

Seeking to create multi-dimensional characters, the performers include two White officers: a young cop who conceals his frustration to drivers by his

While some thought it might have been too preachy. This critique was

mandated constant ticketing and the veteran officer who reconnects with and

probably from playgoers more in-tuned with its polemics. But in this writer’s

takes a liking to a Black male teen who he remembers as an adolescent.

opinion, the play’s artistic expressions of one of the most difficult civil rights

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and civil liberties violations of our time, seeks to pierce the consciousness of the less informed. Highlighting forces that perpetuate inequality, cultivating attitudes, shaping public opinion and confronting contradictions were all highwater marks for this impressive performance.

Said Nadal: “There is a power in theater. When we sit down in the seat, we open our minds in the view that something will happen on stage that will be thought provoking and provide new information.”

Gitana Productions is a non-profit arts and education organization committed to increasing cross-cultural awareness and education. Black and Blue is available for bookings after June 21. For more information, contact: Cecilia Nadal – 314-721-6556 or info@gitano-inc.org.

Malaika Horne, PhD is an academic writer and journalist

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“Fool All My Life”

The New Screenplay,

Everybody Knows What Time It Is,

“I been a fool/all my life/now I done gone/and fell in love with another man’s wife” –Muddy Waters, 1941 “Dearest T.,

by Reginald Martin

I promised you in December that I would quit co-enabling you in any way, but I obviously was not up to my words that I made that night. I have co-enabled you to be dissembling with me, to evade confronting gray areas in your own life, our relationship, our future ever since December I guess. I guess I was feeling very strong at the time for any number of reasons, but I have to simply face the fact I am not strong when it comes to my love for you. I am just weak, and I have always been so and it seems will always be so. Forgive me. We should carry better ideas for each other, but sometimes neither one of us is up to it, up to it.

Blurb: Zip Peters is tall dark, handsome, talented and much desired by every woman he meets. Seidah Jackson is an intelligent, accomplished bombshell in purple. And they are both seeking that ever elusive perfect mate. Until a crazy professor, an ancient mystery and a hidden treasure brings them together. And then…Everybody Knows What Time It Is… Want mystery? Got it. Want fascinating history? Got it. Want the hottest love affair ever written? Got it. Get all the stuff you want here . . . if you know what time it is. Synopsis: In the future South of the year 2020, racial differences take a back seat to the possibility of immense wealth for all when a bloodline secret is revealed to the three main characters: Zip Ingentry Peters, a soul singer and wanna-be intellectual from Memphis; Siedah Jackson, the tall, dark and sultry design engineer from New Orleans; and the brilliant but broke researcher, Professor Dennis Johnston from Atlanta. Only by confronting the secrets of their southern pasts can they grab a gigantic gold fortune in the future.

I remember in 84 you were doing the same with him, dissembling not facing stuff. Something happened in church one Sunday, I don’t really know or care what, and as was our usual pattern we talked each Sunday night at 10:30 and you were completely in depression and denial. “I just don’t care anymore. I know no one will understand. I just love my husband. I cannot make it out there alone.” And many other things to that effect. And, of course, as you continually went back to him (and continue to stay with him) the worse his behavior got and gets, each atrocity bigger and more against your spirit than the next. Until one day you decided that you were going to commit emotionally to me and see what happened, and we both know what happened up to around 90: ain’t never been no love like that and cannot ever be between two people ever-but more on that later. And I tried to pull away but could not, and I told you that we could never be all we could possibly be--never all that we already are--unless we were together; this after knowing you and seeing us and what happened to us when we were with us. And that was not only complete honesty, but also complete sentience about stuff unseen. I knew it purely and without doubt as one might know that rain is wet. And yet and yet and yet I have allowed you to dissemble and betray yourself, and me, and us, and all the stuff we are supposed to be anyway. Yes, I did it, and it was not until I was recently able to face my own failure that I knew how you had failed me and how we had failed the world which so desperately needs us together. We is bigger than us T., we is history and new paradigms and you are bordering on fucking that up for everybody, which is really shocking from an intellectual position because you have only done one dumb thing in your whole life up to this point (no, not your marriage; I accept the tale that you were youth-driven on that); but you are being dumb by treating me the ways that you currently are, and now you are threatening to be cosmically dumb. T., I say this from no point of vanity or emotion: you would be unable to live with yourself if you destroy us. I would simply be unable to live without you, and I cannot continue to live with the way you are treating me/us now. You is messing with cosmic stuff that is supposed to be by denying our speciality and treating me currently as you do, and you know what happens when you do stuff like that; you know; you get punished real bad for not following the natural laws. No, give me a break, this is nothing so trite as a lover threatening to do himself in (as your husband once did and got the results he wanted); no, I’d still be breathing, writing, carrying on another thirty years or so, just a zombie, the living dead that’s all. Not half a man. No man at all; just something that used to be in love with the only one goddess made for him, but lost and now a like-human until no more breath.

Format: satire; history; comedy Market: urban; historical; comedic

________________________

Competing works in the last five years: none Similarities: Movies: Trading Places (1983); Angels and Demons (2008). Books: Absalom, Absalom (1936), by William Faulkner Awards: Deep South Writers Award for Best New Novel in Manuscript, judged by Ernest Gaines. 17 of 23 chapters already published separately in various magazines. Publisher: University of New Orleans Press, October, 2015 [ second edition reprint ]. Prepublication reading and coming-out party: November 6,7, 2015, New Orleans, LA., Intl. Black Writers Asso. Representative: Claudia Menza, Menza Literary Agency, 511 Avenue of the Americas #51 NY NY 10011 [212.889.6850] MenzaAgency@gmail.com.

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Let’s examine all the data, come up with something for your signature. Back to the children: we have been over this a gigabyte, but let’s do it again, fix it, maybe it’s been a damaged sector up to now. I love the cigarette butts you throw out the car. Imagine how much I love the children. This I have never had a problem with. You know this. The fact that they may have problems with me is beside the point. Those things happen when you start over, and you should love me enough to roll with that. You, yourself, used to say that all of that part of the matrix would probably be better for everyone concerned if they were away from him and associated with me anyway. That is probably more true now with the increased maturity of everyone concerned. Except for him of course, and let’s get to him: I know now based on your actions, which even you must now realize are protective dissemblings, that you still love him. [ I realize so much when I can just drop my love barrier for you for a minute (which I hate to do; it is beneath us) ] and listen to what you are really saying symbolically.] I accept your loving him, too much history there to do much else I guess. I could never accept your being back in love with him and only loving me, as your current actions indicate to anyone who is not blinded emotionally. Or maybe I am doing Level-1 thinking. I have been wrong about your thinking and reasoning patterns in the past (you have taught me so much again), and maybe a fish is not a fish. The other night, that computer thing; what you were really saying by those comments was “See how little he regards my skills, my career. I am now equipped with the weapons to force him to respect me, and still he does not; I am in competition with him to earn the respect he has never given me; I know that there is something I can do, I thought the career would be it--then excelling at the career--would force him to respect me and that will be what I deserve and that will be victory. And then maybe I will even like him again and fall-IN-love with him again.” T. there ain’t never gon be no happy future for you with him; there never was. Consult your soul and the same god-force we know we both believe in and you know: you were intended from conception to be with me; and I with you. T., only I can understand you in this way; only I can see your motivations as though they were my own. But I can only do that when I suspend my love-as-blind-as-a-bat for you and listen. And what can I tell you? He can never allow himself to respect you; his own fragile self-respect rests SOLELY on making sure that you know he respects nothing about you. Only in this way can he even breathe, much less feel superior. But let me be honest (I am seldom with anyone save you), if you took the most powerful electron microscope in the world and examined every nanomillileter of my flesh, spirit and soul, it would be a miracle equal to the Virgin birth if you found one atomic particle of my essence that gave a damn about him, his feelings or his future. I discuss him only in the context of getting you and clearing up the present situation; so the fact that I am discussing his negative, fragile self-respect does not for a moment mean that I care if he drowns in the pool tomorrow. I do not. My point is that you are completely and totally wasting your time and our future pursuing this fruitless approval from a like-human you long ago surpassed in every conceivable venue, human or noncorporeal. And the parallels in all this are truly frightening: I try everything I can to get a better relationship exchange with you, but it seems nothing I can do, nothing I can offer is getting me what I want. Do you see the parallel? See why it scares the shit out of me? Yeah, you have always been the smart one in the relationship . . . But there was a time when you were not strong and not clear and desperately needed me and I was there. Our situations are now reversed, though not analogous, and where are you? Right now, I haven’t a notion. We now know what his self-respect rests on; mine rests on doing the right thing and not being ashamed of not having done the right thing when I am in the nursing home, begging for a drink and turning the volume up on “The Price Is Right” on the remote. What does yours rest on? What is the right thing from you towards me? Back to the kids. Right. “He will take from them everything they deserve and everything I earned.” Well, no. I used to let you say it cause it made you feel good, and I am all about making you feel good. You get half either way, and it’s an imminently livable half, and the kids stay with you and love you either way. Further, I can make up the half that is taken away (soon more than make it up), so I don’t want to hear that CD anymore. It’s scratched, it’s warped. It just ain’t so. Ok so what’s left?Listening to you symbolically again (I am left to have such conversations with myself; how embarrassing for someone who has loved you--you say--so well), you asked last week how could you be so dumb as to watch something about the OJ story on the tv. You were trying to tell me something there, but we had more important things to get to, so we moved on over it. But later I reflected on it, as I reflect, both linearly and symbolically, on every word you say to me, every action you make toward me. You are either scared or you have actually convinced yourself that you are scared even if there is nothing to truly be afraid of. Well, the psychology of the abused is this: a co-enabling connection with the perceived perpetrator that precipitates violent behavior. I am not afraid of this punk, and I am not in the co-enabling circle that you have established with him (at least not that part). T., stop, step back, if I am right. Take stock. See what continuing in that environment (and not telling me) really does to children; see what it really does to you; see what its long term effects can be on me. Violence is absolutely a two-way street, and you cannot survive in the crossfire; that is, get out, start over I will protect you. We will of course take all the normal legal precautions and stop-gaps. But as it is a two-way that ends in a V, I walk it too. Believe me, he knows this. Now, stop what you’re thinking. That possibility is no more frightening or disruptive than the violent possibilities you now choose to believe to be possible and to live with. And who are you afraid for? You, the children, or me? The whole thing makes no sense unless you answer these questions. I can tell you this, your years of indirection and repression are really dangerous in that situation. And you have years of this built up in him and you. Please rethink it. You are so linear in every other aspect. (Except when you are dis/assembling us.) Be linear and direct here. Deal with it and walk to a better place for the little time we have left together. How long you been in that mess now, almost 35 years? Well, one could say that I thought I could not live without a situation that was slightly more long lived (39 years), my relationship with my up-until-then two remaining parents. But we know that I have continued my work, loved you more deeply, since July of 1985, don’t we ? No denying this one example, No gray areas. You can do it too. That boy don’t want to hurt nobody but you (his self-esteem rests on his perceptions of your inadequacy, remember) and the only ways he could/would ever hurt you is to keep reminding you of your perceived inadequacies over and over. Other than that, I am afraid you overstate his ammunition. No won’t hold Scotch with me, and you accuse me of being smarter than you. We need to talk about these things as soon as I can corner you. And I will corner you and you will bring closure to this THIS time, or I will have to with any small authority I have and move toward my like-human status without fretting too much. Like-humans don’t remember much about the past I am sure. Your workload? T., because of your competition with him, I know that it is important for me to listen to you when you wish to tel pg.

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l me about the piles on your desk, your new learning curves, new areas of authority, and all that remains unfinished at the end of the day. It is important that you have me to tell that too because he doesn’t care, NEVER will, and no one else in your life really matters enough to you for you to tell it to. And I fully see this as a part of my loving you and I revel in it; I feel needed. But be not deceived by my silence, your workload is no more than mine, regardless of what you might think of it. Just because your present needs or my reticence to intrude my needs over yours leave me no room to talk about my worklife/load does not mean that you’re doing all the work and I am living off my Tunica winnings. I have never been busier and never has more been at stake for me professionally. We just haven’t talked about me. We haven’t talked about much of anything lately. But I do not let my workload influence my relationship with you. I understand my priorities and sloughing you off is not acceptable. If you need me--you know this to be true--I come running. I will always come running T., you have to make time for me in your life---with your work-the same way you make time for everything else in your life. I can live with no less commitment. You should not want me to. (How like the you of ten years ago this sounds, yes? Remember your agony? I do.) Your career aspirations? No, not even worth a paragraph I don’t think. Our being together would not hurt those in any way, unless there are some things you have not told me. In which case you need to tell me. But even if you thought such aspirations would be hurt by us and helped by him, please listen to me: your/our career successes mean nothing without each other; such triumphs are hollow points aimed at our insides without success in our personal lives. You/us is all the success I need. Your family? Ha Ha! If they loved me anymore I’d have to call pest control. Your friends? Same spray. Your business contacts? They’re largely the same as mine, except that I have more cause while you’re working for one company I am (currently) working for seven. Your plants? They beg me to piss on them. No no no no no no no. None of your old stuff will work here anymore. Another lover? You say “hell no!” I say I take your word for it, but I doubt it when you leave town for a week and don’t give me a number. This one here we need to take a vow on. Coincidentally, I was just contacted last week on an option to lease a condo building downtown; not only security and privacy in the normal sense, but you cannot even see a car when it pulls up to the security booth to be let in; you cannot see any of the outside grounds, and, after visiting to check the place out last week, you can take an elevator straight from your car in the basement to the front of the condo door. The only snag in it is I would need your help on the rent to be able to do it, cause it is considerable for a three-bedroom. So if the my current address is no longer comfortable for you, we can make a change August 1st. My marriage? Over done with. You can’t use that one. I sent her packing last Sunday, and I am waiting for her to sign the papers. Of course, you and I have not had the time to discuss this. You have not had the time to discuss anything with me. Slightly over a month ago you said, “Soon I will be off the fast track and then we will have more time.” Sorry, you said this one when you were going to law school; then when you graduated from law school; then when you clerked; then when you were with Smith/Jones, now a year into Tech Intl. Amazing track record of career curve acceleration of course, but what you miss is this: YOU will always accelerate (he knows this too and it kills him), and thus there will never be a “later” unless you make it now. Does our love really mean that little to you after all we have been to each other? After all we already are, that you actually will continue to gamble with it as long as I co-enable you to do so? Well, no more help from me. I knew very well when I started to write this that my only response from you could very well be silence, and I was always afraid of that (as you are afraid of changing your situation), but I finally was up against the wall, no other acceptable choices left, something or nothing. Writing it out clears your head. You should try it. If I were brave enough--to risk everything one time in my life so that I could really know what love is--you should be brave enough too. Indeed, you have been dropping a lot of bombs lately: You can’t even schedule me like a 20 minute appointment; no, you do not have time to call me when you are 13 miles from me, but when you are 1300 miles from, we talk for hours (except this time); you swear to me you will call me the next night from the airport, but I only hear your voice days later saying you can’t talk to me, you’ll call me tomorrow, but it never comes, never comes; no, no need to get married, but everyone will know we belong to each other. TTTTTTTTTT, these are dissembling positions for you. They give you a feeling of power and sameness. My feelings are nowhere included. What have I done? Every time I ask for corrections you say I do everything perfectly. What can I do? Love is not enough. Great lovemaking is not enough. Support is not enough. Money is not enough. Doing things to impress you is not enough. I am left completely without an avenue of attack. Complete and total powerlessness. Ah love love love, now I understand those blues songs in so many ways that I do not wish to. Muddy saying, “Lawd I been crazy all my life/ now I done gon and fell in love with another man’s wife, another man’s wife.” And yet and yet and yet that is not the point of this missive. If I never saw you again, you have made me know what love is, you have put me ahead of the others forever and ever Amen and for that I am always in your debt, that I can never repay on any avenue. You once said I did the same for you. Once, very early, after we had made love you said that I had given you more joy in a year than he would ever be able to give you.No no no the point of this missive is to tell you that I cannot live this way anymore, and to tell you that if you love me you will not allow me to live this way anymore. Shoot me with your love gun or drop me like a used condom, but I need a change. Couldn’t sleep last night, couldn’t sleep today, want to sleep at some point before I pop. This is how I love you. This is my niche in the pit. The POINT is to say in permanent print how much I love, need you, respect you, how clearly we should be with each other before it’s too late, and to tell you I cannot go on like this anymore. You can simply drop me, as perhaps you have already done, or I can drop myself if you do not agree to the weak-ass ultimatums below: ___________ Volume 2.4 Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved. www.the-arts-today.com June 4, 2015

___________ WHEREAS T&T were meant to be together by Divine fiat, and WHEREAS one of the T’s has been fucking this up lately to the point that it has gotten unbearable, and WHEREAS one of the T’s is not perfect but he loves the other T. more than everything else combined, one of the T’s will immediately begin to accede to the following stipulations: 1) YOU WILL SEE ME ONCE A WEEK, I DO NOT CARE HOW OR WHEN, BUT YOU WILL. 2) WE WILL MAKE LOVE ONCE A WEEK, I DON’T CARE WHERE OR FOR HOW LONG, BUT WE WILL. 3) YOU WILL CALL ME 3 TIMES A WEEK, I DON’T CARE WHEN OR FOR HOW LONG. 4) YOU WILL LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND SWEAR THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE OTHER LOVERS; I WILL MAKE A VOW TO YOU OF FIDELITY. 5) YOU WILL SHOW ME SUBSTANTIVE WAYS IN WHICH YOU ARE PLANNING FOR OUR FUTURE TOGETHER. 6) AS A SHOW OF OUR SINCERITY ON THE ABOVE POINT, WE WILL GET UNOFFICIALLY MARRIED THIS SUMMER, WITH ONLY TWO GUESTS, K. AND D. AS WITNESSES/SPEAKERS. WE CAN WRITE A POEM/VOWS TOGETHER, READ THEM KISS, HAVE CHAMPAGNE, AND GO ON A LOCAL HONEYMOON. YOU CAN GO HOME BY 10 O’CLOCK. NOBODY HAS EVAH DONE THAT BEFORE, AND I THINK IT WILL BE TERRIFICALLY ROMANTIC. 7) ALL OF THIS WILL HAVE TO START TODAY AND WE CAN HAVE A TWO-WEEK PROBATIONARY PERIOD TO SEE IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO ALL OF THESE SO-CALLED ULTIMATUMS, AND THEN IF YOU DO THEM DURING THE TWO WEEKS WE’RE FINE-- NO WE’RE BETTER. IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING, I HAVE TO WITHDRAW AND LEAVE US ALONE, LOVING YOU NO LESS. Little Tina, in the same way that I surmise you to be child-driven, family-driven, scared of making changeful decisions because you are feardriven, I am TINA-driven with the same intensity. Why is this so difficult for you to understand? Maybe you are incredulous, but it’s the facts. You have got to stop playing with this and believe that I am TINA-driven. I think then you would appreciate my feelings and my position more. T., I cannot believe that you want me to play the Johnny role (and however many others who have really loved you): you blow it, I walk away, you recover, get another one. Stay in the same situation. You have got to be too smart for that. Tina, with less than the above agreements, I cannot continue us presently. My pain is immense at the moment, and I want it stopped. One time I stopped yours, or so you told me. I am asking you to stop mine. Tina, one life, one time. 8-31-11

Written (July 2ND, 3RD AND 4TH); Signed and Agreed to this 5TH Day of July 1994 in the year of the two T’s. ______________________________________ Thomas Jackson ______________________________________ Tina Northern”

* * * “That was 17 years or so ago,” Tom told the bored counselor who stared out at the duck lake as he tried to finally bring closure. Clearing her throat, Dr. Somebody from Nowhere said, “Well, it’s clear to me she never loved you. Do want medicine . . . ?” “---you dumb bitch. I don’t want your crazy medicine. You need it for yourself. Tina absolutely loved me, loved me absolutely . . . but it wasn’t until this moment looking at your fake ass, that I realized that she always loved me, but not as much as she was in competition for her husband’s respect. I wonder if it ever came?”

1. Authors must live within 150 miles of Memphis. 2. Entries must be postmarked by August 1, 2011. 3. You may submit more than one story but each entry must be accompanied by a $10 entry fee, with checks or money orders payable to Memphis magazine. 4. Each story should be typed, double-spaced, with unstapled, numbered pages. Stories should be between 3,000 and 4,500 words long. 5. Stories are not required to have a Memphis or Southern theme. 6. With each story should be a cover letter that gives us your name, address, phone number, and the title of your story. Please do not put your name anywhere on the manuscript itself. 7. Manuscripts may be previously published as long as previous publication was not in a national magazine with over 20,000 circulation or in a regional publication within Shelby County. 8. Manuscripts should be sent to Fiction Contest, c/o Memphis magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Please do not send faxes or emails. Authors wishing their manuscripts returned must include a self-addressed stamped envelope with each entry. Winners will be contacted in mid-to-late September.

Tom left the sparkling, bankrupt tower of blue glass, never to return, and went back to work.

name, Reg Martin address, 488 Lundee Street phone number, 901-324-8232 pg.

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Dr. Reginald Martin, is Full Professor of English at the University of Memphis and, when he was 34, the youngest full professor in the history of the University. He has won the Ford Foundation Award, The American Council on Education Award, the Distinguished Teaching Award, the Council of Arts and Sciences Russell R. Smith Award for Teaching Excellence, the Arts and Sciences Distinguished Research Award, and is currently under consideration for the Alumni Awards in both Creative and Engaged Scholarship. He is a Founding Member of the International Consortium of Language Educators of the National Council of Teachers of English, and he spearheaded the founding of the first graduate Focus Area in African American Literature in any English Department in the country. He is Past Director of Professional Writing Programs and current Coordinator of African American Literature. He is also currently Chair of Tenure and Promotions in the Department of English and is the author of nine books and numerous articles on composition, theory, and African American literature. He has received Awards of Merit from Shelby County Government, Memphis City Government in Community Service, the State of Tennessee government for Leadership, and is one of the founding board members of the Mississippi Music Foundation, which produced over twelve communityoriented cdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in 2011. Through his efforts, over 30 of his MA and PhD students have gotten 35 articles published, and he directed the first African-American-centered dissertation in literature at the University in 2004. He has taught or done extensive lecture series at Michigan State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. His 1991 anthology, Erotique Noire, has gone through 43 printings in 15 languages. In 2007, The Benjamin Hooks Memphis Public Library devoted an entire specialized study room for his archive collection. His most recent book, the novel Everybody Knows What Time It Is (University of New Orleans Press, 2010), has sold out of its first press run and has garnered the Deep South Writers Award for Best Novel in Manuscript (judged by Pulitzer Prize Winner, Ernest Gaines), and chapter 8 of that novel has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in fiction. Eddie Murphy Productions has expressed interest in the screen rights for the novel. Dr. Martin holds two certifications in professional writing and communications, and holds five earned degrees (two terminal): a B.S. in magazine Journalism; an A.S. in General Computer Technologies; an MA in Modern Literature; an MFA in Longer Prose, and a PhD in Modern Letters. His current book project, Transcultural Theory, with Dr. Jerry Ward, is concerned with the ways International Students use and perceive American Literature in their own nationalistic, critical writings.

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Way

Black In Time pt . 4

The History Of The Black Race. Coming In A Few Days.

@ArtsTodayez

IN A FEW DAYS!

Animated Web Starring The Black Archaeologist.

http://blackarchaeologist.com/ pg.

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Black Men WANTED re

who we

Raised in Single Parent homes.

Maia Niguel Moore is conducting a research study to explore how Black men who were raised in single mother homes build romantic relationships with Black women. The percentage of single mother homes in the Black community is increasing as the percentages of married Black men and women are decreasing. As of late, articles have been using phrases such as, “the endangered Black man” and the “professional Black woman” to label the current position of Black men and women in our society. Unfortunately, these labels can create dissension as well a sense of separation between members of the Black community. Research suggests that Black men who are raised in single mother homes are at risk of experiencing an increase in depression, feelings of hopelessness, unemployment, and poor academic achievement compared to Black and White men who are raised in two-parent homes, which can contribute to issues with intimacy. In this study, Maia is going to interview 10 to 15 Black men to better understand how being raised in a single mother home may or may not effect how they build romantic relationships with Black women in order to, (1) help identify ways to address issues that Black men who were raised in single mother homes experience; (2) critically explore the current relationship dynamic between Black men and women; (3) analyze the ways in which popular culture and the media influence how Black men build romantic relationships with Black women, (4) better understand how Black men define manhood; and (5) determine ways the Black family unit can be strengthened as a whole. If you are a Black man or know a Black man who (1) lives in the St. Louis area; (2) is between the ages of 23 and 40; and (3) was raised in a single mother home, please contact Maia at maia.moore@siu.edu if you are interested in participating in the study. Maia is also currently holding a funding campaign to raise funds to assist with some of the expenses necessary to conduct this study. To learn how you can support her research efforts, please visit: gofund.me/blackmenandwomen. All forms of support (participation, funding, and otherwise) are greatly appreciated.

**********************************************************************************

Please share your thoughts.I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you so much and enjoy your evening. Thank you, Maia Maia Niguel Moore, M.S. Counselor Education Doctoral Student Clinical Center Graduate Assistant & Group Coordinator Educational Psychology Wham 223 - Mail code 4618 Southern Illinois University 625 Wham Drive Carbondale, Illinois 62901

Lead. Love. Save. Serve.

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- Forest Park pg.

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OPPORTUNITIES

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PUT SOMETHING CLEAN ON YOUR TV! pg.

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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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Meet

Cbabi Bayoc at Central Library ~ June 13

On Saturday, June 13 @ 2 p.m. in the Carnegie Room of the Central Library, the St. Louis Public Library hosts an art reception for St. Louis artist Cbabi Bayoc to celebrate his project, 365 Days with Dad and his book When I Become a Dad. Books available for purchase courtesy of the author. Representatives from the Father Support Center and the St. Louis Chapter of 100 Black Men will be present to provide information on the resources and services they provide.

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CAREERS

CURRENTLY

ENROLLING!

Building Union Diversity

A training program for individuals with previous or no experience in construction trades.

Minorities and Women are Welcome! The Building Union Diversity (BUD) is a training program for individuals with previous or no experience in the construction field and who are interested in pursuing construction careers in sewer occupations. The classes will be taught by nationally certified and U.S. DOL-approved apprenticeship training programs. The training will provide hands-on experience in participating trades, namely Construction Laborers, Heavy Equipment Operators and Carpenters. TO ENROLL, INDIVIDUALS:

PRE-APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING FOCUS:

• Must come to SLATE, 1520 Market St, 3 rd Floor, St. Louis, MO 63103 or the St. Louis County American Job Center, 26 North Oaks Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63121, from 9 am. to 4 pm., Monday – Friday. • Complete an application and assessment. RECOMMENDED PARKING: Kiel Center Garage,

situated immediately behind our building, at the corner of Clark & 16th. Fees: $1 per hour.

• Career awareness in various participating construction trades • OSHA standards • Identifying one trade that best suits participant’s interests and abilities.

AMEREN MISSOURI, STLCC LAUNCH FREE PRE-APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROGRAM TO CREATE JOB OPPORTUNITIES December 03, 2014

ASK US ABOUT APPRENTICESHIP AND JOURNEYMEN TRAINING!

Ameren Missouri is partnering with St. Louis Community College again to offer a five-week lineman pre-apprenticeship training program at the college’s Florissant Valley campus.

Training program is subsidized by the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District in partnership with SLATE.

Ameren Missouri is making the training program available at no cost to participants. Upon successfully completing this accelerated pre-apprentice training program, graduates will have an opportunity to go through the application and selection process for an apprentice lineman position with Ameren Missouri. STLCC currently is accepting applications for the program that begins in March at Florissant Valley, 3400 Pershall Road. Up to 30 pre-apprentice students will be selected for the training program. “We are committed to creating opportunities and investments in the communities we serve,” said Dave Wakeman, Ameren Missouri, senior vice president of operations and technical services. “This pre-apprentice training program opens the door for people in our community to learn more about the work being performed at Ameren Missouri and then apply for quality positions within our company. We are seeking to hire individuals who are dedicated to providing our customers with safe, reliable power in the St. Louis metro area.” Ameren Missouri’s commitment to STLCC and the community includes funding for curriculum development, STLCC is partnering with Ameren Missouri to offer a fiveinstructional delivery and all necessary equipment. This week lineman pre-apprenticeship training program. includes 30-foot poles, climbing equipment, fall protection harnesses, and other personal protection equipment so that students can safely train on the Florissant Valley campus. Students also will review math, physics and mechanical concepts to prepare them for a potential future position in Ameren Missouri’s apprentice lineman program. In 2009, Ameren Missouri offered this specialized pre-apprentice training program in partnership with STLCC and was able to hire 13 former student participants into the company’s apprentice lineman program. “This initiative serves as another example of St. Louis Community College’s commitment to connect curriculum, programs and instructional delivery modes to meet the needs of employers in the region,” said Steve Long, STLCC associate vice chancellor for workforce solutions. “We are pleased to once again partner with Ameren Missouri to provide training that will give participants an opportunity at meaningful employment.” Nationwide, as many as 18,300 new electrical line workers will be needed by 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The utility industry employed 249,400 line workers in 2012. In May 2012, the median annual wage for electrical power-line installers and repairers was $63,250. For more information about the pre-apprenticeship training program or to apply, email wsglineworker@stlcc.edu or call 314-539-5988.

SLATE is an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Missouri Relay Services at 711.

STLCC NO-FEE, HIGH-VALUE

TECHNICAL JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS These high-value training programs are grant-funded and are offered for limited periods of time at no cost to qualified students.

AVIONICS (Aviation Electronics) An accelerated 8-week practical, hands-on, non-credit course.

STLCC NO-FEE, HIGH-VALUE

TECHNICAL JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS These high-value training programs are grant-funded and are offered for limited periods of time at no cost to qualified students.

TRUCK DRIVING JOBS TRAIN LOCALLY TO EARN YOUR

Class-A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) • • • • • •

Over-the-Road Truck Drivers are in High Demand! No prior experience necessary. Five week program. Experienced staff, low student-to-teacher ratio.

44 hours of drive time on 2011 International Prostar trucks. More practice equals a greater chance for success! Entry Level commercial truck driving jobs average $35,000 yearly. Job Interviews upon successful completion of program.

For more information or to get started visit www.stlcc.edu/TruckDriving. To qualify: Minimum age 21 years old with a good driving record. DOT Physical and negative Drug Test Required. WorkKeys Assessment Level 4 or higher required. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. St. Louis Community College is committed to non-discrimination and equal opportunities in its admissions, educational programs, activities, and employment regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, or status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran and shall take action necessary to ensure non-discrimination. Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is also prohibited. For information or concerns related to discrimination or sexual harassment, contact Bill Woodward, Associate Vice Chancellor Student Affairs, 314-539-5374. This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The solution was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.

AVIATION MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

Prepare for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airframe and Powerplant certifications.

YOU PAY NOTHING for these courses if you qualify.

For more information or to get started visit WWW.STLCC.EDU/MRTDL. St. Louis Community College is committed to non-discrimination and equal opportunities in its admissions, educational programs, activities, and employment regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, or status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran and shall take action necessary to ensure non-discrimination. Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is also prohibited. For information or concerns related to discrimination or sexual harassment, contact Bill Woodward, Associate Vice Chancellor Student Affairs, 314-539-5374. This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The solution was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.

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A big Thank You to our CONTRIBUTERS