reminder: 6 events worth catchin'
reminder: 6 events worth catchin'
=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =20 1. Sun Ra Ensemble Live on WBAI =20 Thursday, April 22, 2010=20 2 to 3 p.m.=20 WBAI 99.5 f.m. (Pacifica Network)=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =20 Trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah brings his New School University Sun Ra Ensemble= =20 rendering the music of Sun Ra live from 2 to 3 p.m., on radio station WB= AI=E2=80=99 s Perspective with Louis Reyes Rivera. If you're too far from New York,= =20 you can tune in on the web or catch it after the fact by going to the=20 Internet (www.wbai.org (http://www.wbai.org/) ) after 3 p.m., Thursday= =E2=80=93 =20 click on archives, scroll down to the date and time, then just hit the pl= ay=20 button. The program remains archived for up to 14 days of initial airing.= Mr.=20 Abdullah, a 25-year veteran of the Sun Ra Arkestra,=20 teaches his mentor's music and philosophy to the New School's music =20 majors. The performance on WBAI has been an annual April event for the pas= t 8 =20 years. =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D =20 2. Writers Celebrate Mumia Abu-Jamal=20 Saturday, April 24, 2010=20 2 to 6 p.m.=20 St. Mary's Church=20 512 West 126th Street, Harlem=20 (btwn Old Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.)=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D =20 The New York Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and the National Writers = =20 Union (NWU/NY Chapter) present Writers for Mumia, an afternoon of reading= s=20 celebrating Mumia's birthday and featuring Steve Bloom, Loretta Campbel= l,=20 Susan E. Davis, Shelley Ettinger, Jose Angel Figueroa, Robert Gibbons,= =20 Rashidah Ismaili, Atiba Kwabena Wilson, Dave Lindorff, Lupe, Ndigo, = =20 Ewuare X. Osayande, Patricia Queen, Louis Reyes Rivera, Yusef Salaam,= Nana =20 Soul, Israel Tacuma, et al. This birthday celebration/reading immediatel= y=20 precedes a rally scheduled for Monday, April 26, in front of the Justice= =20 Department's headquarters in Washington, D.C.=20 Quick Update:=20 Mumia Abu-Jamal now faces a most critical moment in his decades-long=20 struggle for a new trial based on solid, incontrovertible evidence of=20 prosecutorial and judicial misconduct during the criminal court trial tha= t led to his=20 conviction on charges of killing a Philadelphia police officer. This past January, the Supreme Court overturned the Third Circuit Court= of=20 Appeals' 2008 decision to set aside the death penalty based on improper= =20 instructions given to the jurors. Instead, the high court has instructed= the=20 circuit court to "reconsider" its earlier decision (reinstitution of the= =20 death penalty). What the Supreme Court refused to weigh in on was the=20 defense's arguments calling for a new trial and drawing attention to nume= rous=20 instances of prosecutorial misconduct, including the deliberate exclusion= of=20 eligible Black jurors and coercion of witnesses, several of whom have=20 recanted their testimonies.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=20 3. Poets Tribute to Tato Laviera=20 Tuesday, April 27, 2010, =20 6 to 10 p.m.=20 New York University Kimmel Center, Room 401=20 60 Washington Square South (at LaGuardia Place)=20 Greenwich Village, Manhattan=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 This special tribute to Puerto Rican poet/playwright Tato Laviera features= =20 an entire array of the Nuyorican Movement that gave the caf=C3=A9 its leg= endary=20 status. Join Miguel Algarin, Maria Aponte, La Bruja, Americo Casiano, Sery= =20 Colon, Sandra Maria Esteves, Jose Angel Figueroa, Mariposa, Jesus Papoleto= =20 Melendez, Nancy Mercado, Myrna Nieves, Frank Perez, La Prisionera, Raul Ri= os,=20 Louis Reyes Rivera, vocalists Jacqueline Flowers, Carmen Ambert, along wit= h=20 the Nuyorican School of Poetry Jazz Ensemble, featuring Andy Gonzalez, Ge= ne=20 Golden, Vincent George, Abe Rodriguez, and DASO honoring a trailblazer in= =20 his own right.=20 This event is made possible through the collaborative efforts of Bella=20 Quisqueya, C-Roots, L.U.C.H.A., Latino Studies Program, Africana Studies= and=20 Afrolatin@Forum in partnership with United Bronx Parents, Inc., and La =20 Carreta Made a U-Turn Committee.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D =20 4. Book Party for John O. Killens Bio=20 Thursday, April 29, 2010=20 5 to 8:30 p.m.=20 Skylight Gallery @ Restoration Plaza=20 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, 3rd floor =20 (between New York & Brooklyn Aves.) =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D =20 A book party for Keith Gilyard's John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black=20 Literary Activism (University of Georgia Press) jumps off at Restoration= Plaza =E2=80=99s Skylight Gallery in Brooklyn. Jointly sponsored by Bedford-St= uyvesant=20 Restoration Corporation, Center for Art & Culture, and Prof. Carole=20 Gregory's "Modes of Analysis" class, College of New Rochelle, School of= New =20 Resources (Brooklyn Campus), the program includes discussion with the au= thor=20 along with a panel of former friends and students of the late novelist.= =20 In this first major biography of Mr. Killens, Prof. Gilyard examines the= =20 life and times of the man who was perhaps the premier African American=20 writer-activist whose literary career spanned from the mid-1940s to the= late=20 1980s. An influential novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and teacher, Joh= n O.=20 Killens, along with John Henrik Clarke, Rosa Guy and others, co-founded= the=20 Harlem Writers Guild, through which workshop no less than 100 books,=20 screenplays and staged dramas were produced during his tenure as Chair=20 (1951-1965). Among the Guild's other prominent alumni were Sarah E. Wrigh= t, Ossie=20 Davis, Alice Childress, Maya Angelou, Piri Thomas, Lonnie Elder III, Irvi= ng=20 Burgie, Loften MItchell, Louise Meriwether, Charles Russell, Sylvester=20 Leaks, et al. Other writers he befriended and mentored outside of the Gui= ld=20 include Haki Madhubuti, Askia Toure, Nikki Giovanni, Ntozake Shange, Dor= is=20 Jean Austin, BJ Ashanti, Richard Perry, Elizabeth Nunez-Harrell, Nicholas= a=20 Mohr, Thulani Davis, Brenda Connor-Bey, Brenda Wilkerson, Arthur Flowers,= =20 Terry McMillan, among many others. =20 Prof. Gilyard, however, extends his focus into the social parameters of= =20 Killens=E2=80=99 times and literary achievements =E2=80=93 from the Old Le= ft to the Black=20 Arts Movement and beyond. Figuring prominently in this biography are the= many=20 prominent African American political and cultural workers connected to = =20 the author from the 1930s to the 1980s =E2=80=93 W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robe= son,=20 Alphaeus Hunton, Margaret Walker, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Malcolm= X, Nina=20 Simone, Gwendolyn Brooks, Woodie King, Martin Luther King Jr., Harry =20 Belafonte, Chinua Achebe, Keorapetse William Kgositsile, George Lamming,= Gil=20 Noble =E2=80=93 like so. =20 Though several of his works =E2=80=93 Youngblood (1954), And Then We Hea= rd The =20 Thunder (1964), Black Man's Burden (1967), The Cotillion (1972) =E2=80= =93 have been=20 translated into well over a dozen languages, Killens, like Dr. Du Bois,= =20 has remained among the least studied of American writers. =20 John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism is the second of= =20 Gilyard's books focusing on the Killens phenomenon. His earlier book, =20 Liberation Memories: The Rhetoric and Poetics of John Oliver Killens, is= a=20 detailed study of Killens' novels, through which, taken together, we see= one=20 whole continuum of historically-rooted fiction (from the 1690s to the 198= 0s) =E2=80=93 =20 and from a Black point of view. A literature professor at Pennsylvania=20 State University, Keith Gilyard has fashioned a narrative that allows rea= ders=20 to more fully take note of the complexities of Killens' evolution =E2=80= =93 from a=20 human rights and union activist to a novelist/dramatist/screen writer and= =20 mentor to no less than three generations of African American writers and= =20 activists. =20 The event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be=20 available and refreshments served. Take the 'A' or 'C' train to the Nostr= and =20 Avenue station.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 5. APT Seminar on Writers' Rights=20 Saturday(s), May 8, May 22, May 29, 2010=20 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. (all three days)=20 Afrikan Poetry Theatre=20 176-03 Jamaica Avenue (Queens)=20 [F train to 179 Street station)=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20 The Afrikan Poetry Theatre presents Writers' Rights: A Three-Part=20 Seminar with award-winning poet/freelance editor Louis Reyes Rivera. If= you plan=20 to self-publish your book or are about to sign a contract with a publishe= r=20 (big or small), or through E-Book, Print-On-Demand or Audio publishers,= =20 this seminar can definitely help. =20 Rivera (Scattered Scripture, The Bandana Republic) will detail both you= r=20 rights and your options and outline how the Internet threatens to push ne= w=20 law despite several lawsuits still pending in the courts. Rivera, who=20 chairs the NY Chapter of the National Writers Union, has, since 1975, hel= ped=20 over 200 authors get their works into print. He can be heard every Thursd= ay,=20 at 2 p.m., on radio station WBAI, hosting Perspective. =20 Reserve your seats now. Email the APT at Jwatusi@aol.com=20 (mailto:Jwatusi@aol.com) or call 1.718.523.3312.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=20 6. Poets for the Dead on Mother=E2=80=99s Day =20 Sunday, May 9, 2010=20 2 to 4 p.m.=20 Flushing Meeting House=20 137-16 Northern Blvd., Flushing, Queens=20 [The # 7 train to Main Street station)=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=20 This year=E2=80=99s Mother=E2=80=99s Day commemorations include a collabo= rative of New =20 York poets reading on behalf of children who=E2=80=99ve been buried on Ha= rt Island =20 (this city=E2=80=99s Potter=E2=80=99s Field). The names to be read include= those who=E2=80=99ve=20 died between 1980-2008 and were located through the Hart Island Project= =20 digital database. Each poet [Grace Beniquez, Ira Cohen, Louise Landes-Levi= , Jo=20 Anne Meekins, Louis Reyes Rivera, Ilka Scobie, Jackie Sheeler, Abraham=20 Stubenhaus, Stacy Szymaszek, Steve Turtell] will read a poem along with= a page of=20 names from a ledger book of the dead. =20 The event, free and open to the public, is part of the efforts of Melinda= =20 Hunt, founder of the Hart Island Project, which seeks to uncover the secre= ts=20 of the City=E2=80=99s public burial ground on Long Island Sound. =E2=80= =9CThrough the=20 powerful voices of prominent poets, we hope to make an invisible 101 acre= s and=20 one-tenth of the population visible,=E2=80=9D says Melinda.=20 Jointly hosted by Flushing Monthly Meeting and Bowne House Historical=20 Society (both of whom share a long history of supporting freedom of consc= ience=20 dating back to 1657), and in collaboration with the Lewis H. Lattimer Hou= se=20 and Flushing Friends, this event represents the first time the names of= =20 the dead have been publicly read aloud since graveside religious services= on=20 Hart Island ended in 1958. The public is no longer permitted to visit=20 actual grave sites on Hart Island. Due to the efforts of the Hart Island= =20 Project, an on-line database of over 65,000 people buried there from 1980= -2008, is=20 now available to the public.=20 The NYC Department of Correction manages the public burial ground and=20 maintains the records. Prison labor is used to bury and disinter those wh= o are=20 unidentified or unclaimed, including unknown numbers of infants. Public= =20 access to Hart Island is limited to people who can somehow prove that the= ir=20 relatives are buried there. For information via the Internet:=20 hartisland.net/wwwebs. =20