Arts vol 2 3

Vol 2.3 May 7, 2015

DANCE! SPRING TO DANCE®

pg #84

ROBOTS TAKE OVER ST. LOUIS! pg #146

View this and past issues from our website.

DAY OF SERVICE Cardinal Ritter pg. #34

JOYE FORREST Miss Teen Missouri pg. #42

BARRIERS Denise Lieberman pg.#76

IN THIS

ISSUE:

8

4

IN THE NEWS TBA

CBABI BAYOC CENTRAL LIBRARY

62

66 TL Willihaamsesr&7

3 TIPS...YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP A. KEITH TURNER

C m r o t A the S R T S CHEpg.#14 RMIXOLOGIST OTHE ANTHONY STEWART

Dr. Tracy

The Art of Self Lovepg. # 6

The Violinist Gaslight Theater pg. #10

110

92 AFRIKY LOLO DANCE GROUP

NOTHING WASTED ADELIA PARKER

pg. 2

LIVE / WORK / PLAY NATE JOHNSON

?

8

26

THE ART OF FATHERHOOD DR. MCCARTHY

72

80

#BLACKMAMABURDEN DOUGLAS WILLIAMS

TEATOX THE FITNESS BOSS

“. . . for u, the sky’s the “unlimit”...”

Baba Sherman Fowler,

Griot and Poet

Established 2014 Volume 2.3 St. Louis, MO www.the-arts-today.com/ Layout/Design www.bdesignme.com

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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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This Ezine and the content published within are subject to copyright held by the publisher, with individual articles remaining property of the named contributor. Express written permission of the publisher and contributors must be acquired for reproduction.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

pg. 4

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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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

In The News

Your Source fo

TL W

the Stor

ORC

pg. 6

Dr. Tracy

The

Your Source for Art Appreciation

Volume 2.1 March 4, 2015

Please support our sponsors, many

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

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

X

The Art of

FATHERHOOD Recognizing Father Relevance & Rectifying Father Absence

The Art of Fatherhood: Recognizing Father Relevance & Rectifying Father Absence

by Dr. Tracey McCarthy, Psy.D., DCFC, J.D., M.A. Psychologist/Attorney/Educator Webster University - Legal Studies Department www.drtraceymccarthy.com

“A father acts on behalf of his children by working, providing, intervening, struggling, and suffering for them.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer As Mother’s Day approaches, much attention is directed towards the meaning of motherhood and the inherent necessity of “mother” to the well-being of all that is living. The receipt of nurturing, protecting, and guiding mothering is, indeed, crucial to the healthiest development of children. As no thing, and no one, can replace “mother”…no thing, and no one, can legitimately replace “father.” His unique and innate value in a child’s life is unmatched and his presence is of infinite necessity in service of a child’s optimal physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual development and realization of life potential.

Fatherhood is one of life’s greatest joys, and a child’s relationship with his or her father is one of the most important connections every child will ever have. Regrettably, not every father fully experiences this life pleasure and not every child is given the opportunity to completely benefit from a consistent and healthy bond with his or her father. This father-child relationship deficiency results in social and emotional hardship and misery for fathers and children too numerous to count. It further weakens overall family, community, and societal structure and function.

Most will readily agree that children function best when living with, and being nurtured by, two happy, healthy, and well-adjusted parents, regardless of the child’s sex, race, or socioeconomic status. Each day, however, millions of children awaken to lives less than optimal in terms of parental care, guidance, protection, and support. It is becoming increasingly common that children, the world over, are growing up without the benefits inherent to dual parenting, by their mothers and fathers - with mother presence and father absence being the most pervasive pattern of concern.

Deficient Development Author John Bishop (2000) succinctly described the fall out of the recent and pervasive dynamic of father absence. He explained that children living in single parent households, versus two parent households, are living lives with greater negative outcomes than do children in two parent households. He pointed out that such children experience problems including deficits in thinking and social skills and they have significant behavioral problems. This is in addition to the children experiencing underlying psychological issues related to resentment, anger, shame,

pg. 8

attachment, suffering, aggression, and sexual identity. The lack of a dependable and nurturing father, Bishop asserted, leads to much child hardship and agony.

“Papas should be loving their children so much that they cry when they gone.

That’s what papas is supposed to do.”

? ― Andrew Galasetti

Much of this child misery can be alleviated by legally maintaining the presence and involvement of fathers in the lives of children and reconnecting estranged fathers with their children through effective custody and visitation planning and decision making. To do this, fathers, mothers, courts, legal professionals, and child specialists must come to grips with the necessity of fathers in the lives of children and the fall out resulting from the absence of fathers in the lives of the world’s children. Fathers, therefore, should never be given a legal option to opt out of the lives of their children.

“Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating... too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life.” ― John Wooden

Every day, children the world over awaken to lives without their fathers. Every day, children live with the pain of the absence of their fathers - to love them, guide them, protect them, nurture them, teach them, correct them, and support them. Every day, millions of children live with the tragic void from their father’s lack of active presence in their lives.

These children live with an enduring sense of aloneness, abandonment, rejection, and lack of value and importance that their peers with active and involved fathers escape. They ask themselves why they are not loved…what they did wrong to push the father away…what they can do to acquire their father’s love and concern…why their fathers are spending time with children not belonging to their father, instead of with them…why later born children by other mothers are more important than they are and…will they ever truly be loved by the father or by anyone.

“As fathers, we should have a desire to be active participants in our children’s lives.” ― Asa Don Brown

If the children could speak for themselves they would say “Please, don’t leave me.

Please, take care of me. Please, talk to me. Please, call me. Please, visit me. Please, feed me.

Please, change me. Please, hold me. Please, protect me. Please, encourage me. Please, accept me. Please, love me. Without you, my life is going to be so much more difficult, so empty, and so hard. I’m going to miss you, miss us, and miss seeing me in you and you in me.” If the children were allowed to speak their heart’s longings, needs, and desires in relation to their absent fathers, these would be their heart’s words.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

ART OF FATHERHOOD cont.

-Recognizing RealityToo often, adults see the world exclusively through an adult lens and fail to consider the world through the eyes of children, their children. Parents regularly get so caught up in their own relational trauma and drama that they often neglect to understand how their choices and freedoms impact their children, often negatively. In fact, parents frequently rewrite reality to fit their situation.

“The greatest mark of a father is how he treats his children when no one is looking.” ― Dan Pearce Upset mothers convince themselves that since they no longer need or desire the father, neither does the child. Angry and confused fathers collude in this fiction by determining that their presence and involvement are unnecessary and their roles can easily be filled by the mother, a grandparent, the government, or any other entity besides themselves. For such men, if they no longer love the mother, they believe they no longer need to love their child by the mother.

What fuels this family fiction is the reality that many of today’s parents were forced to live in father-absent households and endure father-absent lives. These parents convince themselves that they turned out “just fine” without having a father around. Did they really?

They reason that their mothers or grandmothers struggled, but managed to provide them everything they needed to become healthy functioning adults. These adults are blinded by their own untruths about living without active fathers in their lives. Sour grapes become the conscious coping mechanisms of these parents, where they talk themselves into believing if they did not have a father they did not need one or desire one. If these parents were more honest with themselves regarding the harm borne of living without their fathers, they could be equally honest about the importance of the father-child relationship for their own children.

It is imperative that adults open their eyes to the truths of father absence. This will allow families and courts to better comprehend the need to ensure increased and active father involvement in the lives of children.

-Adversity of AbsenceThe thought that children suffer no adverse impact from a lack of relationship with their fathers is nothing more than a social falsehood. Just consider the children and adults who have endured fatherless lives and you will note a common theme in their lives. Father-absent sons and daughters have significant difficulty living with the reality of not being wanted by their fathers, not being important enough to fight for, not being important enough to spend quality time with, not being important enough to share life and love with.

This harsh reality places children at higher than average risk for not developing optimally and for failing to realize their full potential. This reality strains a child’s ability to function academically, socially, emotionally, and parentally in the future.

pg. 10

“Being a parent means working in God's behalf to provide direction for your children.” ― Tedd Tripp One of the greatest heartaches and difficulties children face when their parents separate, divorce, or engage in ongoing battles is that of loss of contact and a steady supportive relationship with one of the parents, usually the father. This absence impacts the child on many levels and in ways too numerous to count. In fact, a father’s absence profoundly impacts the child, mother, father, siblings, extended family, and community in ways that courts, researchers, and child specialists are just coming to fully understand.

Researchers, such as Stein, Milburn, Zane & Rotheram-Borus (2009), are increasingly finding that a child’s attachment to his or her father is a significant protective factor against many developmental problems in children. Simply put, when concerned and supportive fathers are present and active in the lives of their children, those children live healthier, more productive and less stress-filled childhoods and adulthoods. They are better, all-around, for having the presence of their own biological fathers in their lives.

The significance of fatherhood and the father child relationship cannot be sufficiently underscored, for the child or the father. This undeniable importance has been documented by countless researchers and child and adolescent specialists.

“The stories of young men searching for their fathers are the stories of young men who through their adventures father themselves by doing for themselves what they hoped a father would do for them.” ― William S. Wilson While a select few researchers (Perlesz, 2004; Friedman, Ali, & McMurphy, 1998) have historically suggested the absence of the biological father in the lives of children is of little consequence, such theory and science is among the minority. The overwhelming majority of research on child development clearly demonstrates the profound importance of father presence in the lives of children and the individual and societal adverse impacts of father absence in the lives of children.

-Detrimental DetachmentFather absence is tied to multiple negative child development outcomes, ranging from early sexual maturation to poor cognitive and social development. It can, thus, be presumed that the presence of caring and supportive fathers in the lives of children places such children in better positions to realize healthier developmental outcomes.

“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us.” ― Umberto Eco

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

ART OF FATHERHOOD cont.

It is helpful for fathers, mothers, law makers, policy makers, educators, and clinicians to consider carefully the nature of the developmental concerns at issue. By looking squarely at the issues relevant to father presence and absence in the lives of children, fathers are better able to make informed decisions regarding the quantity and quality of investment they are making or need to make in the lives of their children.

Father absence harmfully impacts both boys and girls, albeit in varying ways. One myth is that father absence impacts sons, but presents little or no concern for daughters. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Some of the effects are more detrimental than others but, experienced cumulatively, the impact of absence can overwhelm a male or female child’s ability to develop optimally into a fully functioning and mentally and physically healthy adult. Let’s consider a few of the developmental problems faced by father-absent children versus fatherpresent children.

-Health in the Absence of WholenessSome of the most astonishing research is on the relationship between father presence and absence and the actual physical health and development of children and adolescents.

Studies show that childhood is actually cut short for girls separated from their fathers. The absence of the father from the lives of girls is related to earlier breast development, earlier pubic hair development (Ekwaru, Kushi, Ellis, Greenspan, Mirabedi, Landaverde & Hiatt, 2011) and earlier menstruation.

“Daughters aren’t trash you can toss away, Dad. I had to deal with the mess you left.” ― Katherine McIntyre This premature physical maturation of girls who are separated from their fathers translates into a faster developmental track that results in premature physical readiness and risk for adolescent girl pregnancy in already vulnerable children. Couple this early maturation research with the fact children reared absent their biological fathers actually engage in sexual intercourse at earlier ages than children reared in father-present households (Mendle, Harden, Turkheimer, Van Hulle, D’Onofrio, Brooks-Gunn, Rodgers, Emery & Lahey, 2009) and we have an undeniably dangerous developmental mix for all father-absent children.

“I'll tell you why I keep my scrapbooks. It's in case my real father shows up.

I never met him, don't even know his name...

I've got this feeling he's out there searching for me.” ― Joan Bauer Anthropology professor Robert Quinlan (2003), reviewing data for over ten thousand females, found that parental divorce and separation between birth and kindergarten predicted early menstruation, early sexual intercourse, early pregnancy, and short-lived first marriages for girls. Also tragic is that parental separation during adolescence predicted higher numbers of sex partners for girls.

pg. 12

Along with girls, male children also experience earlier sexual maturation when raised in father-absent contexts. This early maturation included faster change in voice and younger age for first sexual intercourse in boys. As with father-absent girls, father-absent boys are placed at higher than average risk for adolescent parenting and the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases of every type.

As fathers, mothers, courts, attorneys and clinicians consider the overall welfare of minor children involved in custody and visitation planning, they must begin to more fully consider not only the present situation of children, but the future developmental impact of parenting custody plans. Something as important as too early physical maturation and its negative effects, and the possible role of fathering in relation to such, cannot be easily ignored as adults plan for the long term welfare of children, families, and society as a whole.

-Devastation of DesertionIn addition to physical health, child psychological health is also at issue among fatherabsent children. The world is full of messages suggesting father absence matters little in the social and emotional lives of children. Research on child and adolescent mental health and criminality repeatedly disagrees with these societal assumptions.

“We were kids without fathers…” ― Jay-Z As any family or juvenile court employee or child specialist will admit, it is a well-known fact that children deprived of active fathering are at higher than average risk for involvement in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Researchers (Kofler-Westergren, Klopf & Mitterauer, 2010) investigating family structure and juvenile delinquency discovered that growing up without a father placed a high percentage of boys at risk for delinquency and violent criminal behavior in childhood.

Children from father-absent homes have higher rates of juvenile delinquency, behavior disorders, and substance abuse than their father-present peers. When the child’s relationship with the mother is also troubled, the child experiences even worse psychological outcomes (Kofler-Westergren, Klopf & Mitterauer, 2010). Given that juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder, and drug and alcohol use among children are predictive of adult development problems (including incarceration), the absence of fathers, particularly in the lives of little boys, places father-absent children at significant risk for poor adult development in multiple life areas.

“Exactly what are you wanting to teach your children?

How to love and care for themselves, or how to neglect and abandon themselves?” ― Miya Yamanouchi

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

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. 14

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

ART OF FATHERHOOD cont.

Another pressing concern for boys in father-absent situations is that of illegal drug use and abuse. Mandara & Murray (2006) have determined that father-absence among African American boys is a principal predictor of drug use among such children. Looking into the issue of drug usage among adolescent father-absent boys, they discovered that such boys use drugs at a rate higher than father-present boys. This is the case even when the boys compared came from similar neighborhoods, economic backgrounds, and experienced similar parental monitoring. Although illegal drug usage among children is a crime unto itself, such behaviors place father-absent children at even greater risk for even more serious juvenile and adult crime.

Paschall, Ringwalt & Flewelling (2003) further uncovered that father-absence, which is linked to less parental monitoring of boys, results in boys being more likely to engage in delinquency. Close parental monitoring afforded when a child has two involved parents is simply lacking when fathers are absent.

-IrreplaceableMany women go in search of replacement fathers for their children. Stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and boyfriends may have the potential to be amazing surrogates in the lives of children. The biological father, however, is irreplaceable.

Some believe that a biological father can be easily replaced by a stepfather to lessen the harm done by the father’s absence. Research does not support this long held myth. In fact, Harper & McLanahan (2004) determined that family instability and growing up in a stepparent home was related to increased delinquency among children. Those children with the highest incarceration risk were, therefore, those whose fathers were absent and the children were in reconstituted homes that included remarriage and stepparents. Hence, a father who thinks his role can be just as easily handled by a stepfather, as by himself, is wrong.

Very interestingly, Pfiffner, McBurnett & Rathouz (2001) have demonstrated that when a father is present, all parties involved engage in less psychological dysfunction and illegal behaviors, including the mother, father and the child. (This is profound on multiple levels.)

Their research revealed that all family members are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior if the father is absent or non-participating. They also found that introducing a stepfather into the equation did not serve to lessen the antisocial behavior of family members.

“His client needs him, he says. Needs him?

But isn’t he needed at home?” ― Beth Kephart A father’s absence is felt in the classroom. When children live father-absent lives, their schoolwork and academic achievement (or lack thereof) reflect this issue. While conducting graduate research, Willie Corlew (2010) of Tennessee State University discovered that when considering attendance, discipline referrals, and high school grades, fathering is of great importance. Father involvement, he found, substantially contributed to high school boys’ grade point averages, school attendance, and appropriate school behavior.

pg. 16

Even as far back as 1970, researchers (Lessing, Zagorin & Nelson) were finding academic problems among children of absent fathers. They uncovered that children with prolonged absence from fathers had lower IQ scores than children with present fathers. The problem was worse for children in working class families, in which many children of color (African American, Caribbean, Black, Hispanic, and Native American) belong.

“Do your faces light up when you first see your child in the morning or when you come home from work?

Do you not understand that a child’s entire sense of value can revolve around what they see in your face when you first see them?”

“Fathers should make you feel safe.” ― Karen Cushman As academic achievement is tied to physical health, psychological health, juvenile delinquency, and occupational and career opportunities, the importance of child academic performance and success cannot be sufficiently emphasized. Because of this, a father’s presence or absence in his child’s life impacts, to a large extent, what type of future his child and his future grandchildren actually live.

A father’s presence or absence helps to dictate, in countless ways, the extent to which a child will be physically healthy, mentally healthy, socially healthy, occupationally productive, and economically successful.

-Facilitating (Dys)FunctionalityFather absence adversely impacts family structure and function. Family structure involves the way a family is organized and arranged and includes the makeup of the family in terms of specific members.

Families in which fathers are absent are generally more challenged than families in which fathers are present in the family composition. This is particularly the case in patriarchal cultures where male dominance, male privilege, and male lineage are highly valued and practiced. The United States (along with the majority of the world’s countries) is one such culture.

When children are raised in father-absent homes, in patriarchal structures, they are doubly vulnerable as they have limited, or no, access to the male privilege afforded children in father-present homes. This is particularly problematic for children in homes with mothers who are marginalized in terms of sex, race, ethnicity, or economics.

“It has been said that as goes the family, so goes the world.

It can also be said that as goes the father, so goes the family.” ― Voddie T. Baucham Jr.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

ART OF FATHERHOOD cont.

Family function entails the manner in which a family operates or how well a family unit behaves, works, and performs. As with family structure, family functioning is greatly compromised in the absence of fathers. In families wherein fathers are absent, mothers attempt to pull double duty as mother and father, resulting in significant maternal role strain and family strain. Children are particularly burdened in father-absent households wherein the children are called to perform adult responsibilities for which they are developmentally illprepared to perform, including male children being required to function like the mother’s quasi partner or little man (mate).

Children are created of two parents for a reason; both are needed and required for their unique essence and gifts to a child’s life. Just as children need their mothers, they equally need their fathers. Fathers are a must to children. Fathers are essential to children. Fathers are an entitlement to children. Fathers are a basic necessity in the todays and tomorrows of their children.

“The greatest thing a father can do for his children is to respect the woman that gave birth to his children.

It is because of her that you have the greatest treasures in your life.

You may have moved on, but your children have not.

If you can’t be her soulmate, then at least be thoughtful.” ― Shannon L. Alder -Mature MotheringIf you are the mother of a child and you are not with the father, you have a responsibility, as a mother, to do all within your power to make certain that the father you chose for your child is in your child’s life - on a highly consistent basis. You do not have a right to keep your child away from your child’s father based upon fleeting whims.

Unless your child’s father is incarcerated, or you found out far too late that the father is an actual danger to his child’s wellbeing, you have an obligation to assure that your child has regular and unfettered access to the child’s father.

Your negative relationship with your child’s father is not the child’s problem. Your child did not ask you to bring the child into the world and neither did the child ask to be parented by you and the child’s father. Your need to sever ties with the father, or to punish the father for not becoming or being what you believed he was or he was becoming, is not the child’s problem.

Who you are dating or married to should have no bearing on the child’s relationship with the child’s father. But for legitimate concerns for the child’s safety, who the father is dating or is married to should have no bearing on the child having regular and consistent contact with the child’s father.

The father’s unwillingness to provide for the child’s basic needs should also have no bearing on the child’s contact with the father. If the father is refusing to provide basic food,

pg. 18

clothing, and shelter for the child, and he is completely (physically and mentally) able to do so, such should be resolved through the family court system.

The adverse physical and psychological issues your child is likely to suffer due to father absence far outweigh any surface desires or issues the child’s parents may have. If your own father was absent, such does not justify you creating a dynamic whereby your child shares in your childhood pain. If father absence was hard for you, it is similarly difficult for your child to be without his or her father.

-Faithful FatheringIf you are an absent father reading this, you have a moral and legal obligation to care for, nurture, support, guide, teach, and protect that which you created. You have an obligation to put your child’s basic life needs above your own fleeting desires to be free and unencumbered, to be financially better off, to be distant from the child’s mother, to pretend that the child is not yours, or to punish the child and the mother for your choices to do that which created the child.

Your child did not ask to be here; you chose to be a creative force for your child’s existence. You made a decision to create a child, by engaging in actions that produced a child.

Your child did not behave in such a way as to create himself or herself and force you to be a parent.

Your feelings towards the child’s mother should be of no consequence and the child should not be drawn any further into parental dramas. Your issues with the mother are not the child’s problem and every effort needs to be made to assure this. “…a father isn't someone who helps produce a child.

It's the person who loves that child and raises them as his own” ― R.D. Cole Your unemployment does not relieve you from parenting. When you eat, the child should eat. When you are sheltered, the child should be sheltered. If you have clothes on your back, the child should be, at least, similarly clothed. Your failure to financially provide for your child, by true inability or by your choice, does not preclude you making yourself physically present in your child’s life.

If you need to walk for miles across town to visit your child, due to not having other transportation…you need to walk. If you have access to a phone to call anyone else, you need to use that same phone to check on your child, every-single-day. There is no such legitimate thing as paternal vacation, paternal sick time, or paternal leave of absence. Fathering is a lifetime vocation.

“The strength of a man is in his character.

A strong man is great man of wisdom who understands, his top priority is to his family.”

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

ART OF FATHERHOOD cont.

― Ellen J. Barrier When the time comes to make legal custody determinations, you do not have a moral right to not fight for custody, joint or sole. You do not have a moral right to not request regular visitation.

You do not have a moral right to not take care of your child simply because you are involved with, or married to, a woman other than your child’s mother. That is not your child’s problem. You do not have a moral right to take care of some other man’s child while ignoring the needs of your own.

You do not have a moral right to not feed your child, clothe your child, and shelter your child. If you elect not to pursue custody and not directly provide for your child, child support is your payment to the mother for your freedom to not be bothered with caring for your child’s daily needs on a consistent basis.

“Someone once said that every man is trying to live up to his father's expectations or make up for their father's mistakes....” ― President Barack Obama While it may be understandable that you are at a loss regarding how to father a child if your own father was absent, such does not absolve you of the moral and legal obligation of care. If your father was voluntarily absent from your life, he was wrong. His past wrong, however, does not make your current absence right. Just as you did not deserve to be abandoned, neither does your little one.

How do you move from being absent to being present?  

Consider filing for custody or visitation, if you have not done so. Prepare for becoming present, mental, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Own your own issues related to parenting. If you have been absent, acknowledge that such has been detrimental to the child and take immediate strides to become regularly present. (Your child is your immediate family and, in many instances, your legal next of kin.)

“The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature.” ― Antoine François Prévost



Start with a phone call to your child.



Directly acknowledge your absence and the challenge that such has created for your child.



Do not make excuses or blame anyone for your choices.

pg. 20



Allow your child to express his or her feelings and simply accept it and endeavor to heal any hurts.

“There is nothing that moves a loving father's soul quite like his child's cry.” ― Joni Eareckson Tada



Your ego cannot be the most important concern in addressing your child’s pain or upset over your absence.



Within 24 hours, make in-person contact with your child to continue the process of healing and presence.



If your child is too small to actively engage in phone calls and cooperative visitation, reach out to the mother and begin the same healing process.



If the child is an infant or a toddler, make a plan within 24 hours to visit with the child in person to engage in child care, whether such be feeding, diapering, book reading, or rocking to sleep.



If the mother is refusing to allow visitation or custody exchange, you should seriously consider contacting an attorney for assistance or directly contacting the family court to acquire intercession and help. Your child has a general legal right to access to both of your child’s parents and it is your moral obligation to make sure that your child’s rights and needs are protected and asserted.

“And what could my father possibly want with another child, when he hardly bothered to talk to the one he already had?” ― Polly Shulman

Works CitedBishop, J. (2000). Father absence and the attitude of Entitlement. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, Vol 30(1), 105-117.

Corlew, W. (2010). The absence of a father or father figure and its impact on the academic success of high school males. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol 70(9-A), 3323.

Deardorff, J., Ekwaru, J., Kushi, L., Ellis, B., Greenspan, L., Mirabedi, A., Landaverde, Evelyn G., Hiatt, R., Father absence, body mass index, and pubertal timing in girls: Differential effects by family income and ethnicity. Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol 48(5), 441-447.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

ART OF FATHERHOOD cont.

Friedman, A. (1998). Father absence as a risk factor for substance use and illegal behavior by the adolescent sons. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, Vol 8(2), 79-95.

Harper, C. & McLanahan, S. (2004). Father absence and youth incarceration. Journal of Research on Adolescence, Vol 14(3), 369-397.

Kofler-Westergren, B., Klopf, J., & Mitterauer, B. (2010). Juvenile delinquency: Father absence, conduct disorder, and substance abuse as risk factor triad. The International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, Vol 9(1), 33-43.

Lessing, E., Zagorin, S. & Nelson, D. (1970). WISC subtest and IQ score correlates of father absence. Journal of Genetic Psychology, Vol. 117(2), 181-195.

Mandara, J. & Murray, C. (2006). Father's Absence and African American Adolescent Drug Use. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, Vol 46(1-2), 1-12.

Mendle, J., Harden, K., Turkheimer, E., Van Hulle, C., D’Onofrio, B., Brooks-Gunn, J., Rodgers, J., Emery, R., Lahey, B. (2009). Associations between father absence and age of first sexual intercourse. Child Development, Vol 80(5), 1463-1480.

Paschall, M. Ringwalt, C., & Flewelling, R. (2003). Effects of parenting, father absence, and affiliation with delinquent peers on delinquent behavior among African-American male adolescents. Adolescence, Vol 38(149), 15-34.

Perlesz, A. (2004). Deconstructing the Fear of Father Absence. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, Vol 16(3), 1-29.

Pfiffner, L., McBurnett, K. & Rathouz, P. (2001). Father absence and familial antisocial characteristics. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology: An official publication of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Vol 29(5), 357-367.

Quinlan, R. (2003). Father absence, parental care, and female reproductive development.

Evolution and Human Behavior, Vol 24(6), 376-390.

Stein, J. Milburn, Norweeta G., Zane, J. Rotheram-Borus, M.J. (2009). Paternal and maternal influences on problem behaviors among homeless and runaway youth. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol 79(1), 39-50.

This article is for general community informational purposes only. It does not serve as a substitute for the services of a personally retained psychologist or attorney. The information in this article does not constitute a solicitation for legal or psychological services. Any actual legal or psychological advice should be tailored to specific clients and their specific needs. No attorney-client or psychologist-client relationship has been created by reading this article.

pg. 22

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Dr. Tracy

The

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

Matthew 25:34-40 NIV

We seek to impact the world with the love of Christ one life at a time!

Hopelessness and desperation are on the rise in a world where the greatest segment of the population possesses the least amount of resources.

We need your help! Please help us fight this epidemic by sending your tax deductible donations/contributions to: For His Glory Ministries of St. Louis P.O. Box 1942 Maryland Heights, MO. 63043 http://calvarychapelslc.com/homeless-ministry/ For other ways in which you can help please contact Pamela Ford at pamelaford98@gmail.com or 314-216-0744.

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LIVE WORK PLAY

Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

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

I don’t think that I am overstating the fact that this time of year in St. Louis is just magical. The weather is just perfect, baseball is here, I can hack up the golf course, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and all of the Spring Festivals are in full swing. I hope that you had an opportunity to attend the Cinco de Mayo Festival on Cherokee Street over the weekend, and the Earth Day Festival the week before that. We certainly had a great time! Of course there are plenty of great activities taking place through the rest of May, and I hope that you will join me at some of them. Let’s start tonight!

pg. 26

Local Events

If you’re looking to enjoy the beautiful weather outside, you can pack a picnic and join me at for live music at Twilight Tuesday at the Missouri History Museum where they will be featuring the party band GalaxyRed, who will be performing from 6-8pm. There will also be food trucks on hand!

MAY

5 thru

MAY

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Thursday, I hope that you’ll come with me down to the Schlafly Tap Room for Charlie’s Angel’s Silent Auction, to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. There will be great food, auction items, and of course, beer! I have a ticket with your name on it, just let me know. Later on Thursday, you may want to stop by Cyrano’s Cafe to check out the jazzy vocal styling of Erin Bode! Another option for live music on Thursday is KDHX’s Midwest Mayhem where you’ll find 12 bands playing on 5 stages at the City Museum.

On Friday, more than 20 food trucks will be on hand for you to enjoy in Tower Grove Park for the return of Food Truck Friday! Or, you might like a nice stroll at the Missouri Botanical Garden while sampling wines from around the world at their Grapes in The Garden event. Later, the Chaifetz Arena will be the host of the Mother’s Day Music Festival where you will find several R&B groups performing, including Maze, Keith Sweat, and Bell Biv DeVoe. You might want to take the kids over to The Kirkwood Mayfest on Saturday. This is where you will find art, dancing, live music and food all day long! If you take a quick jump over the bridge to Waterloo, you’ll find the 2nd Annual May Music & Market Festival. You could even stop by the Saint Louis Zoo since they have recently opened a new exhibit featuring stingrays! So if the kids are feeling adventurous this weekend and want to pet stingrays, the Stingrays at Caribbean Cove is where you need to be! On Saturday evening, a great time is in store with the Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri as they host their annual Trivia Night in Richmond Heights. I still have a couple of seats at my table so let me know if you want to join me! Also Saturday, at the Sheldon Concert Hall at 11am, Bottom Up Blues Gang will put a new spin on old school sounds! Not to forget the Atrium Gallery is having an opening reception for their latest exhibition, Women in the Atrium which showcases a strong and diverse group of female artists.

Sunday May 10 , UMSL’s Blanche M. Touhill Arts Center will be performing a ballet and Spanish dance filled version of Don Quixote! Don’t forget Sunday is Mother’s Day, and it will be a great day to just relax at the Art Fair at Laumeier Sculpture park. There will be live music, crafts, and a wine garden to enjoy.

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LIVE WORK PLAY

MAY

11

Wednesday, May 13, the Peabody Opera House will be hosting a cultivating conversation with renowned author Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Looking to indulge in a little shopping, food, and cocktails; you should definitely stop by Cherokee Nights on Thursday May 14 from 5pm- 11pm on Cherokee Street!

If you’re wanting to have fun with the kids this weekend, Friday May 15, you can stop by the Emerson Free Family Night at The Magic House or the 14th Annual Art on the Square at the Belleville Public Square where they can be artists for the day with the interactive children’s art section!

thru

MAY

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Saturday May 16, there are tons of events you can attend to brush up on different cultures! The 19th Annual Chinese Culture Days at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Afriky Lolo Dance Concert in the Edison Theatre at Washington University,or even some German culture at the Maifest in Hermann, Missouri! Rotary Park will be hosting the Saint Louis Renaissance Faire , where you can expect realistic costumes, jesters and kings, and delicious food.

You’ll surely feel like a 16th century villager! Also on Saturday, between Manchester Ave. and Sutton Blvd., the 7th Annual Taste of Maplewood Street Festival will be held where you can see different vendors compete for the titles of “Best Sweet Tooth”, “Best Unexpected Flavor”, “Best Cocktail” and many more! If you can’t make any of those events make sure you end your week off right at the Annie Malone May Day Parade where there will be dancing, music, great food, and fun for all ages in Downtown St. Louis.

pg. 28

1

MAY

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On Friday May 22, in the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL, you can experience up close and personal dance performances at the 8th Annual Emerson Spring to Dance Festival 2015.

Also on Friday, The Saint Louis Zoo is hosting Jungle Boogie Friday Night Series, a FREE concert for kids of all ages! If you want to try something new, the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church will be hosting the Saint Louis County Greek Fest from 11am- 8pm.

There will be Greek food and desserts, music and dancing, and a Kids corner! Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park will be performing “ Antony and Cleopatra” at the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis at 8:00pm. This will be the perfect time to grab and blanket, bring a picnic basket, and enjoy the talents St. Louis can offer.

If you’re looking for something educational, yet fun ,Saturday May 23, at the World’s Fair Pavillion in Forest Park, there will be the Annual St. Louis African Arts Festival where they will feature events ranging from African films, food, and children festivities! Later that evening the Missouri Botanical Gardens will be having a Lantern Festival featuring over 20 exhibits from Zigong, China! The Black Dance- USA will be dancing the night away at the Edison Theatre at Washington University. There will be professionally taught classes ranging from West Afrikan to Hip-Hop. Another exciting event on Saturday that you can attend is the opening of The Barber of Seville, it will be performed at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis at 8pm.

thru

MAY

19

If you’re wanting to the leave the kids at home; make sure you stop by St. Louis Bluesweek Festival and enjoy the food, music, and other great experiences.

It will be held at the Chesterfield Amphitheater on Sunday May 24! Also on Sunday the Bevo Mill Neighborhood, will be hosting the Taste of Bevo Street Festival from 11am-6pm. The event will be filled will worldwide foods, carnival attractions, dance, music , and even a car show!

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APRIL

20

If you love the circus make sure you go see Circus Flora perform “One Summer on 2nd Street” at the Grand Center District on Thursday May 28! It will be an exciting yet intimate flashback to the 20s you won’t want to miss! Also on Thursday, The Fabulous Fox will welcome Alabama Shakes to perform their unique spin on soul and blues.

Friday May 29, Will be the We Heart STL- Best of the City Celebration, where you can expect the Best of St. Louis’ vendors to come out and help celebrate our amazing city!

Looking for some good food and fun, well don’t pass up the opportunity to visit the Midtown Taste ART FAIR on Saturday May 30 on Locust street.Later that night, sneak away to Speakeasy Floradora at the Grand Center District, where you’re sure to find great jazz music, food, cocktails,

u

thr

APRIL

31

not to mention a circus performer right at your table! Also on Saturday, The Loretto- Hill Center for the Performing Arts at Webster University, will be performing a beautiful rendition of La Rondine.

Sunday May 31, take the kids to a show they won’t soon forget, Kramer’s Marionette Theatre will be featuring “ The ShoeMaker and the Elves at 1pm!

Yes, it will certainly be another great month in St. Louis!

Please let me know if there is anything that I can do for you. All the best. ~Nate

pg. 30

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pg. 32

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Cardinal Ritter Students Bless Annie Malone with St. Louis, MO – Cardinal Ritter College Prep students came out to put their skills to work in the garden at the Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center Program site. The children were eager to get started pulling weeds, breaking ground and preparing for a fresh new harvest.

“The students brought much needed energy and excitement to the day”

, said Jonathan Hayes, Annie Malone Therapeutic school teacher. The time and talent the kids are giving is invaluable.

Annie Malone invites several organizations in throughout the year for various service projects. If your group, church, or organization would like to volunteer or find ways to help the children of Annie Malone call Niecy Davis, Special Events & Marketing Coordinator 314-5310120 X 2124 or email ndavis@anniemalone.com. Many people volunteer for the Ice Cream Social and the May Day Parade but we need help all through the year.

This year the Ice Cream Social and Open House returns Saturday, May 2, 2015 from 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. to the program site at 5355 Page Bld. This event is free and a great way to spend family time learning more about the programs and services that are offered. We invite you to tour our facility, engage our staff and enjoy delicious treats from our many vendors.

Sunday, May 17, 2015 is the date for the Annual Annie Malone May Day Parade. The parade starts promptly at 1:00 p.m., it begins at 20th & Market Street and proceeds east on Market towards Broadway. The parade is the biggest fundraiser for the agency. The proceeds from this event support Annie Malone’s four core programs and services that run 24 hours seven days a week.

_______________________________ Niecy Davis Special Events/Marketing Coordinator MAKING LIVES BETTER Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center 2612 Annie Malone Drive St. Louis, MO 63113 ( Office: (314) 531-0120 X 2124 ( Fax: (314) 531-0125 Website: http://www.anniemalone.com pg. 34

DAYof Services

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y Ma

A Month of Festivals and Celebrations.

Happy Mother’s Day & Happy Birthday Malcolm!

May is a very unique month. It is Foster Care Month; National Barbeque Month; National Bike Month; National Blood Pressure Month; National Hamburger Month; National Photograph Month; National Recommitment Month; National Salad Month and Older American Month, but what we celebrate mainly is Mother’s Day, and in many communities, the birthday of Malcolm X. Sunday, May 10 is Mother’s Day, a holiday honoring mothers that is celebrated around the world. At first, people observed Mother’s Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers; and now Mother’s Day is the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.

Thanks to the hard work of the pioneering women of their times, Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis that the day came into existence. Millions of people across the globe take the day as an opportunity to honor their mothers.

Also this month, Malcolm would have been 90 years old, and fifty years after his death, the influence of Malcolm X is still motivating and influencing individuals all around the world to fight for their human rights, but there are only a few observances.

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. As the national spokesman for the Nation of Islam, he is credited with establishing new mosques in cities such as Detroit, Michigan and Harlem, New York. Malcolm utilized newspaper columns, radio and television to communicate the Nation of Islam’s message across the United States. In March 1964 he left the Nation of Islam and founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and changed his name to El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

How do you think Malcolm would react to the recent riots and demonstrations in Ferguson and Baltimore? Malcolm’s goal was peace, freedom and equal rights, particularly and specifically for black and other oppressed people, and Malcolm incorporated the richness of black history and culture, while completely rejecting white society and their subjugation and brutality.

Malcolm had many dreams as reflected in many of his quotes. He said

‘Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds. I have always kept an open mind, a flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of the intelligent search for truth.’

Malcolm did not trust the press. He said ‘The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses’. He told us that ‘power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression, because power, real power, comes from our conviction which produces action, uncompromising action’.

And let us not forget some of his more profound words ‘If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary. If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything’. I question how he would react to the way CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and other media’s coverage of the Ferguson and Baltimore demonstrations.

He knew that people of color must unite with a single purpose to attain freedom and peace, so he sought wisdom and knowledge through dreams, visions, fasting, and prayer. Very few individuals are able to make such a significant contribution to their communities that they can claim much credit for its power and glory. Al Hajj Malik El Shabazz did.

Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday Brother Malcolm, and may your legacy live on.

Bernie Hayes

pg. 38

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!

Kevin Powell Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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pg. 40

Scott Joplin House State Historic Site Afternoon Tea Soiree Saturday, May 16, 2015 - 2:30 PM

Dress up! - Emerge with your hat, gloves, and pearls…

Join us in the Rosebud Café next door to the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site - 2658 Delmar 63103 For a

Afternoon Tea Soiree…

Répondez S’il Vous Plait to 314-340-5790. RSVP’s are a must as there is limited space for this affair a light meal will be served.

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J

oye Forrest Miss Teen Missouri United States

s “Be courageous and stand up for what you believe.”

pg. 42

Joye Forrest FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 17, 2015 TO: ALL COMMUNICATION MEDIA FROM: Afro World, St. Louis FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact: Afro World at: email: sheilaforrest@live.com RE: St. Louis Teen Crowned as Miss Teen Missouri United States 2015 Is First African American to Hold Title

Joye 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.”

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Page two — St Louis Teen Crowned Miss Teen Missouri United States 2015

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.

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.

(End)

pg. 44

Joye Forrest “Be courageous and stand up for what you believe.”

Dear Potential Sponsor, I was recently crowned Miss Teen Missouri United States 2015. During the first week of July, I will travel to Washington, D.C. to represent Missouri in efforts to become the first Missourian to win Miss Teen United States 2015.

My platform as the current titleholder is to encourage young women to celebrate their inner beauty and embrace abstinence before and until marriage. I am here to encourage others to be courageous, stand up for what they believe and not to succumb to peer pressure for all the wrong reasons.

In representing Missouri and competing for the title, it comes at a great expense.

I solicit your immediate sponsorship in any dollar amount to defray the expenses.

For your financial sponsorship, your logo will be displayed on a live link at www.missouri.us.com. Also, your logo will be displayed in the ad pages in the souvenir booklet, which will be viewed and patronized by thousands.

I am confident that our collective efforts will yield winning results in competing for the title. Your donations are 100% tax deductible as a marketing expense.

Please make all donations payable to the undersigned and returned in the enclosed, self-addressed stamped envelope. As a sponsor, if you should have a need for me to make a personal appearance at one of your special functions, that can be arranged.

Finally, I know your time is valuable and I appreciate your time and consideration.

Sincerely, Joye Forrest Miss Teen Missouri United States 2015 Sheilaforrest@live.com 7276 Natural Bridge Road St. Louis MO. 63121 314-389-5194

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Featured

Artist

A self-taught artist. Mrs. Lock won her first art competition as a kindergartener. Art Education: CASA School for the arts, New York art student league & the summer arts program at Washington University. While a young adult, I decided to teach art in the Saint Louis public schools system. I began doing workshops also for organizations such as Oasis, Better Family Life, and teaching art for Girls Inc., Clayton School District, workshops for Kirkwood school district, Saint Louis University and Saint Louis art museum.

My work started being displayed around the world beginning in 1980. My first traveling show was at New York State University, My first one women show was held in Saint Louis at the Von Cultural Center. The most popular shows I’ve had was in New York at New York State University & at Starfire in Phoenix, Arizona.

I began to do set & stage designs, my first set & stage design was for Gitana Productions “Play: Faces of Love” at West Port Playhouse. I began book illustrations in 2000: First book titled “Hot Fun in the summer time” by Debra Morrow Loving. I have done illustrations for 4 published books. I have spoken at Harris Stowe State University, Spellman University, Morris Brown University and Webster University about African Arts education. In 1998 Mrs. Lock was awarded the Women of Achievement in Arts and Education Award presented by the St. Louis Board of Education and Garfield Accelerated Academy. She is also a graduate of the Regional Arts Commission’s Community Arts Training institute.

My talent is god given. My artist inspirations are Doctor Harvey Dynastein (He is a professor at New York Art Student League), Rosalind Flax (A Art Therapist at Washington University) And Solomon Thurmond (Art Educator). Mrs. Lock is now the art director for over 14 public after school programs for Neighborhood Houses. Gundia Lock is truly a teacher and mentor for young disadvantaged children, and a fine representative of Saint Louis’ Flourishing arts community.

pg. 46

Submission

Gundia Locke-Clay

Title: The Tides Coming In (Acrylic Medium) Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Title: Nomad (A collaboration Mural) Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Title: A Mothers Luminosity

(Pen and ink)

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Title: So you say (Pen & Ink) Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Title: Untitled

(Pen, Ink and fabric)

pg. 52

Title: African Girl Dancer (Pen, Ink and Brass) Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Title: Come Together (Acrylic Medium)

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Title: Out All Night (Medium Acrylic) Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Title: African Lion (Baskets & Mixed Medium)

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pg. 58

“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 Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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

pg. 60

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pg. 62

3

Tips for Youth Entrepreneurship

By A. Keith Turner Youth are extremely excited about having their own spending money, but are normally completely unequipped and unprepared to earn their own income. When youth identify a problem that they can potentially provide a solution to they often do not easily see a connection between their experience, their limited skill set, and the possibility for them to create income while solving the problem at hand. Learning the foundations of entrepreneurship helps youth to put their daily school work and money management into a clearer perspective and understanding. That is quite possibly one of the best reasons to expose youth to entrepreneurship.

The following are 3 brief tips that you can use to encourage youth entrepreneurship:

1.

Problem + Solution + You

Many kids spend most of their youth trying to discover their purpose. They often question their role and the impact that they will eventually have in society. Introducing these brief concepts about entrepreneurship could help.

a. Problem - Identify a problem or a challenge in your home, school, or immediate community. b. Solution - List a variety of tasks, efforts, and initiatives that could mitigate, more effectively manage, or completely solve the problem or challenge

c. You – What skill have you picked up that can help you create a business? Examples include; providing services in the areas of maintenance

(outdoor/indoor), household chores, babysitting, mowing the lawn, tutoring, dog walking, hosting a lemonade stand, selling cookies, recycling collection.

These business opportunities have low overhead, and could easily be scaled with more hours or more workers.

2.

Social Good

3.

Keep it Fun!

In a world where revenue and sales seem to be valued more than the workers that make the business function, it is important to remind young entrepreneurs of the importance of helping others after their business is operating. Encourage the youth to donate some of their revenue to a cause that they believe in that helps others, or even start a business with the sole purpose of helping others (I.e. T-shirt or wristbands to sell for a certain charitable cause or purpose). Teaching youth the importance of helping others is an invaluable lesson!

The third point is very simple – Keep it Fun! As soon as entrepreneurship becomes a burden or a chore for a kid, then it is time for them to stop.

Learning about hard work is part of teaching youth about entrepreneurship, but it has to be a fun and rewarding learning experience. Be sure to encourage the kids to identify business ideas that they truly are interested in and care about, so they will enjoy their journey through their new world of entrepreneurship.

These 3 tips should help you place any youth on the exciting road to entrepreneurship.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

S.L .A .M.

St. Louis Art Museum

ART COLLECTIONS

EXHIBITS

EVENTS

Admission to the Museum is free every day.

Hours:

Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm

|

Friday, 10:00 am–9:00 pm

|

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

pg. 64

Closed Monday

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pg. 66

ART OFOF FOOD ART FOOD

Anthony Stewart THE

MIXOLOGIST

l blending food and drink to stun your senses

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

THE MIXOLOGIST cont.

I am The Mixologist Healthy Fine Dining at Home is how food Mixologist Anthony Stewart describes his cooking style. “I literally take dishes from Saveur Magazine, Bon Appetite, and other high-end cooking publications and break them down, replacing the unhealthy ingredients with healthy ones. I then rebuild them adding my own herb and spice blends. No white salt, no white sugar and no white flour. Also, no pork or pork by-products.”

food I knew to be bad in their bodies. So, I began researching how to make a seasoning spice and sauces that would not contain white salt or white sugar but still taste great. It took about a month to go through a variety of herbs and spices tasting them, studying them for health properties and coming to my final base spice. I then spent another two months in taste tests with the family and friends.”

His mission is to get people back in the kitchen having fun making When asked about how he got into Fine Dining and became healthy meals that look and taste wonderful. “Too many people “The Mixologist” he states, “I was amazed at how good I felt eat out. Why, not only because it’s convenient, but unfortunately cooking healthy food and seeing the smiles on people’s faces. I it tastes better. Fast food restaurants literally have a team of food got addicted. So of course I wanted to keep improving on what scientists working on creating sandwiches and fries that smell and I was doing and I happen to venture to saveur.com one day and taste amazing to your senses. They then look for the cheapest BAM, it hit me… this is what I want to make. I want to create means possible to get that food created and in your mouth. I do the healthy dishes that look like those I saw in that magazine. My same but I don’t look for the cheapest… I look for the healthiest.” background is in Graphic Design and Marketing so I knew how to create a brand and the rest they say is history in the making.”

The Mixologist began cooking 3 years ago out of a necessity to You can follow The Mixologist online on Facebook @ feed a household of eight people daily. “I was living with a friend at iamthemixologist. Or, you can visit his website www. the time who had six children. I couldn’t stand the idea of putting cookingwithflavor.net for recipes and tutorials.

pg. 68

Fish Tacos ingredients:

3 Fillets of Fish (Cod/ Tilapia) 2 Tbs Seasoning Spice 3 Tbs of Sesame Oil 1 Medium Yellow Onion Spring Mix Lettuce 1 Cup Shredded Cheese SAUCE 1 Can Tomato Paste 2 Tbs Seasoning Spice 1 Tbs Cumin 1/2 Tbs Cayenne 1 Tbs Turbinado Sugar

1. Make the sauce. Take one can of tomato paste and put it in a bowl to mix the sauce. Add 1 1/2 cans of water. Mix in all the seasonings stirring it until smooth... additionally you can season more to taste.

2. Chop up the onions and tomatoes.

3. Cut the fish into 1 inch thick pieces and coat the fish with the seasoning spice 4. Add a Tbs of oil to a pan, set the heat to medium (waiting for 60 secs to heat up) then place the fish pieces in the pan and cover with a lid for about 3 minutes. After 3 minutes flip each piece over and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes... you’re done!

5. While the fish is cooking layout the Tortilla bread and cover with sauce using a spoon to spread evenly over the bread. Then place the Spring Mix lettuce on top of the sauce. Next add the shredded cheese then onions and tomatoes. Place the fish on last while still hot to melt the cheese.

Cod belong to the same family (Gadidae) along with both haddock and pollock.

It’s not surprising that the words “cod” and “cold” are so similar since cod need the cold, deep, Arctic waters to grow, reproduce and survive.

6. Add a dollup of sauce on the taco, fold and go!

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

pg. 70

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

#BlackMamaBurden :A Short Story

#BlackMamaBurden: A Short Story

By Douglas Williams

An explosion of thunder spit veins of lightning through splatters of gray clouds from which torrential rain hammered down upon the aged roof of a tiny brick abode.

Shirley Chisholm had proclaimed her presidential candidacy when Jolene and her late husband Johnny Sr., a machinist, had pinched pennies to purchase the abode in the soul section of St. Louis. After 56 years of life, 32 years of loving Jolene, and too many years of tiptoeing through the social minefield that had become the new Jim Crow; Johnny Sr. had clutched his chest and toppled over while sitting in front of a news report that warned of President Reagan’s war on drugs.

On this gloomy evening, Jolene sat on the sofa in the living room sliding a highlighter across a wrinkled page in a well-worn Bible. A sudden banging on the door turned her head—she pushed her aching new hips up from the sofa, and then she hobbled her diminutive frame over to the door for a peek into the peephole. There stood her portly son, Johnny Jr., wearing a grimace that she identified as his dominant gene. According to her, the boy was a belly tyrant who had stirred her awake for nine months back when Johnny Sr. had stepped out to pool halls and hole-in-the-walls.

She opened the door. Johnny Jr. stomped past her pitching a fit and cradling what appeared to be a large cake box. She hadn’t seen him this way since the day he had gone upside a suitor’s head with a patent-leather loafer during a spat over an ingénue for whom Johnny Jr. had wiggled into a prom suit. After a few months of the boy sobbing over the ingénue, Jolene worked her maternal magic on his battered heart,

pg. 72

and then he had climbed out of bed, picked his Afro and begged his father for an Earth, Wind and Fire ticket.

Johnny Jr. set the cake box on the coffee table, and then he ranted: “THEY PULLED GUNS ON ME, TALKED TO ME ANY OL’ KINDA WAY. I’M FIDNA TURN FIFTY. I’M A GROWN MAN—” “Hold your horses, I need to hear it good,” Jolene said, hobbling over to lead him to the sofa, “sit down, calm down, and tell me what happened.” She sat beside him as he settled down.

“I’m driving down the street, next thing I know, police lights in the mirror. I pulled over right away. They hopped out yelling for me to get out with my hands up.

Guns pointed at me, Mama. I just knew I was fidna be a hashtag.”

Jolene pursed her lips and leaned back with recall of the night when Johnny Sr. had burst into the door in a rage after taking Billy Club swats to the head. “It’s all behind you and in front of the Lord now,” she said.

“I don’t wanna end up a hashtag like Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Kajieme Powell, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, John Crawford, Tyree Woodson, or Yvette Smith. Something’s gotta give,” Johnny Jr. said.

“What’s a hashtag?” she asked.

“It’s the number sign they put in front of your name on the internet—Twitter— after you’ve been killed---or to let the law tell it, killed yourself. I’m better than a

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

#BLACKMAMABURDEN cont.

hashtag—greater than an algorithm, Mama. I breathe and feel, and fuss and fight the urge to go Negro Rambo. These people are spirit molesters—soul snipers.”

Jolene pushed up from the sofa. “The Lord saw to it that you were able to walk away from them, but they’ll never be able to walk away from who they are. Come get some of these neck bones and turnips for your family. What’s in the box?”

He arose from the sofa and presented her with the box. She opened the box, and there inside was a “church lady’s hat,” as Johnny Sr. called it when he urged a young Jolene to “save something for later in life.” The ocean-blue, wavy-brimmed hat was exquisitely appointed with floral adornments and glistening pins. She pulled the hat over her silver, shoulder-length mane, and then she unleashed a smile that illuminated the room.

“I apologize for bringing the drama over here. Happy mother’s day,” Johnny Jr. said.

She hobbled over with the hat on her head, pulled him into a maternal embrace, turned him loose peering into his eyes, and then she said: “All I care about is that you live long enough to lay flowers on top of me. I love you, son.”

Johnny Jr. gave her youthful eyes that never grow old: “I love you too, Mama.”

Copyright © 2015. Douglas Williams. All rights reserved.

pg. 74

Option A

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Performing Arts Stage African Marketplace African Arts and Crafts Jewelry, Clothing, Oils Daily Fitness Opportunities Health Forums & Screenings Cultural Demonstrations Children’s Activities Safari Teens Hut Authentic Foods African Films

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VENDOR!S FOOD DANCE!

5 1 0 2 , h t 5 2 ark 23rd

May Fair Pavilion, Foresn.t1P0am-6pm World’s m, Sun. 11am-8pm, Mo

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NY U M E H T AT T H G I N MOVuInEy West Pavilion 15 0 2 , The M h t 4 2 y a Sunday, Mre-Showing Discussion

8 :00 p.m. - P reening s 8:30 p.m. - Scblankets or lawn chair r

Bring you

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For More Information or to Volunteer, Call (314) 935-9676 or Visit www.stlafricanartsfest.com Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

Barriers to the Ballot Box:

Ongoing struggles to secure the right to vote

Denise Lieberman May 20, 2015 7:00 p.m.

Samuel UCC 320 N. Forsyth, Clayton, MO 63105

Fifty years after the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, longtime St. Louis resident and nationally recognized voting rights expert Denise Lieberman will address the continued struggle for voter registration in her talk, “Barriers to the Ballot Box: Ongoing Struggles to Secure the Right to Vote.” Lieberman is a senior attorney with Advancement Project, a national racial justice organization based in Washington, D.C., that works to advance full participation in democracy through legal action, education, and strategic communications. pg. 76

The speech is the second in the Samuel United Church of Christ’s 2015 Speaker Series.

The event will be held in the sanctuary at Samuel United Church of Christ, 320 N. Forsyth, Clayton, MO 63105.

Admission is free and open to the public.

SAMUEL SPEAKER SERIES For more information, call Samuel UCC at 314-727-9540

DENISE LIEBERMAN DISCUSSES ‘BARRIERS TO THE BALLOT BOX’ MAY 20 AS PART OF SAMUEL UCC’s 2015 SPEAKER SERIES Fifty years after the march from Selma, nationally known St. Louis lawyer addresses the state of voters rights in America, and the implications of new restrictions.

Denise Lieberman, longtime St. Louis resident and nationally recognized expert on voting rights, will speak May 20 at 7 p.m. about the continued struggle for voter registration 50 years after the historic march from Selma to Montgomery. Lieberman’s talk, “Barriers to the Ballot Box: Ongoing Struggles to Secure the Right to Vote,” is the second in the Samuel United Church of Christ’s 2015 Speaker Series. The event will be held in the sanctuary at Samuel UCC (320 N. Forsyth, Clayton, MO), with questions and discussion to follow. Admission is free and open to the public.

“The struggle for participatory democracy has been hard-fought and evasive throughout U.S. history,” says Lieberman. “However, recent years have seen a reversal of the general trend of expanded access to the ballot box, marking the largest legislative effort to restrict voting since the post-Reconstruction era. In the last four years, half the states have enacted new voting restrictions and the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. We’ll assess the landscape of voting rights in the U.S. alongside the changing demographics of the American electorate, and growing feelings of voicelessness in cities like Ferguson.”

Lieberman is a senior attorney with Advancement Project, a national racial justice organization based in Washington, D.C., that works to advance full participation in democracy through legal action, education and strategic communications.

A seasoned constitutional and civil rights lawyer with 20 years of experience, Lieberman has litigated some of the most-watched voting rights cases in states around the country, as well as in her home state of Missouri. In the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, last year, she serves as co-chair of the Don’t Shoot Coalition in St. Louis, a community organization calling for systemic change to racially based policing. Lieberman is also an adjunct professor of Political Science and Law at Washington University in St. Louis, and previously served as legal director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri.

“Denise’s wide range of experience gives her a perspective and insight on the issues of the day that few people can match,” said Michael MacCambridge, president of Samuel Church. “Her ability to cut through longstanding rhetoric and find humanity on both sides of a debate are entirely keeping with the spirit of open discussion and compassion that is part of the ethos of our church. I’m proud that she’s agreed to discuss these issues at Samuel.”

For more information on the speech, the Speaker Series, Samuel UCC, or to request an interview with Denise Lieberman, please contact Samuel’s office administrator, Anna Muhm, at 314-727-9540.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

Art of Healing

Your Ad or Article could be here!

Contact us if you have a contribution to the ART OF HEALING. pg. 78

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

Teatox by​ Fitness Boss Teatox by ​Fitness Boss​ is an all natural tea that promotes weight loss and supports natural detoxification of the body through an organic blend of the best herbal teas around!

Detoxification with a detox tea blend like Teatox by ​Fitness Boss​ helps aid in liver detoxification as well providing natural energy, lowers cholesterol, and regulates glucose levels.

What’s in it and their top benefits?

Organic Green Tea Base ­ Increases Metabolism to help aid in weight loss ­ Regulation of Glucose levels ­ Helps to lower cholesterol Organic Holy Basil ­ Enhances liver detoxification ­ Improves Digestion ­ Helps to lower cholesterol ­ Balances hormones and improves cortisol levels Organic Spearmint ­ Promotes digestion ­ Aids in Headache Relief ­ Reduces Stress Organic Rose Hips ­ Aids in fluid retention ­ Good source of Vitamin C ­ Aids in improved complexion Organic Lemon Myrtle ­ Helps with relaxation ­ Helps with acne ­ Helps with gastrointestinal Disorders Organic Linden Blossoms ­ Relieves anxiety ­ Aids in improved ­ Helps to lower cholesterol Organic Ginger Root ­ Relieves muscle soreness from exercise ­ Natural stimulant ­ With proper diet aids in reduction of belly fat

pg. 80

Body detoxification is currently one of the hottest trends in dieting with multiple options.

The most asked question is rather it’s necessary. I’ve pointed out a few benefits and I’ll let you decide!

Top 5 Reasons to Detox: 1. Kick start weight loss Weight loss is the #1 reason most people choose to detox and although this is a great side effect; without following a new and improved diet after a cleanse is complete this weight loss is not sustainable. Focus on long term health! This is not a short term fix.

2. Liver Cleansing

The liver which is your largest internal organ is like a roadmap to your body and when healthy it can do it’s job of ridding the body of fat storage and regulation of the bodies digestive system.

3. Increase in Energy

Years of eating fattening foods can cause lethargy and most people become immune to it. After completing a successful detox most clients are excited to report their energy has improved dramatically.

4. Improved Complexion

Acne sufferers may have a simple solution depending on the type of acne they suffer from. A diet of clean eating while increasing water consumption will undoubtedly provide clearer and smoother skin.

5. Mental Clarity

Detoxing is not only good for the body but also the mind. During detox I recommend individuals to use this as an opportunity to meditate or pray causing an eye opening experience with enhanced mental clarity giving you an overall improvement in your wellbeing!

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TEATOX cont.

Popular Detox Options: Juicing or Smoothies: One option is to do a diet of nothing but juices or smoothies for the next 14 days while enjoying your tea every day during the cleanse.

Raw Food Cleanse: A raw food cleanse consists of consuming nothing but raw foods for the next 14 days. This can be in the form of a juice or smoothies with absolutely no meat. You will consume unlimited fruits and vegetables as well as nuts or seeds including natural nut butters. There are lot’s of resources online that give recipes for raw foods.

Questions: Email: fitnessbossstl@gmail.com Rather you decide to cleanse or not you certainly can’t argue that it causes more good than harm!!

To learn more or join the movement visit www.bossfitnessmovement.com

pg. 82

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

Dance

& DANCE! more

Dance

SPRING TO DANCE® returns...

with three nights of nonstop dance by world-class professional companies from across the country.

w w w. d a n c e s t l o u i s . o r g pg. 84

!

Missouri Contemporary Ballet (Columbia, MO) Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company (St. Louis, MO) Tango for All (New York, NY) Thomas/Ortiz Dance (Norwalk, CT) Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (Dayton, OH) Neos Dance Theatre (Mansfield, OH) Saint Louis Ballet (St. Louis, MO) Owen/Cox Dance Group (Kansas City, MO) ODC/Dance (San Francisco, CA) Oklahoma City Ballet (Oklahoma City, OK) Dance NOW! Miami (Miami Shores, FL) Fukudance (Portsmouth, NH) Chicago Dance Crash (Chicago, IL) Leverage Dance Theater (St. Louis, MO) MADCO (St. Louis, MO) DanceWorks Chicago (Chicago, IL) The Joffrey Ballet (Chicago, IL) Buglisi Dance Theatre (New York, NY) Camille A. Brown & Dancers (Queens, NY) Grand Rapids Ballet (Grand Rapids, MI) Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company (St. Louis, MO) DanceWorks Chicago (Chicago, IL) MADCO (St. Louis, MO) TAKE Dance (New York, NY) Amy Seiwert’s Imagery (San Francisco, CA) The Big Muddy Dance Company (St. Louis, MO) Northwest Dance Project (Portland, OR) Compania de Baile Flamenco de Marien Luevano (Mexico) Nashville Ballet (Nashville, TN) Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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w w w. d a n c e s t l o u i s . o r g pg. 86

SPRING TO DANCE® FESTIVAL 2015. It’s one of the region’s must-see festivals! Going strong for nearly 10 years, the nationally recognized SPRING TO DANCE® FESTIVAL has become a Memorial Day Weekend tradition. From New York to Mexico to Miami to St. Louis, 26 professional dance companies from across the country converge at the Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL to perform for three consecutive nights. Contemporary, classical, modern, tap, tango, flamenco, ballet and more — the festival offers something for everyone with a different program each night.

Presented by Dance St. Louis, the Touhill Performing Arts Center and Emerson, SPRING TO DANCE® is the best opportunity to see a wide range of nationally touring professional dance companies, displaying a variety of styles and repertoires, in one place.

“Of all the local Memorial Day weekend events, perhaps the most consistently exciting is the threenight Spring to Dance Festival presented by Dance St. Louis,” states the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“Audiences flock to the performances— the price is right and the offerings are generous.”

Time Out Chicago says,

“Dance St. Louis has just the ticket,” hails Dance Magazine.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

w w w. d a n c e s t l o u i s . o r g pg. 88

This year’s participating companies are: FRIDAY, MAY 22 Missouri Contemporary Ballet (Columbia, MO) Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company (St. Louis, MO) Tango for All (New York, NY) Thomas/Ortiz Dance (Norwalk, CT) Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (Dayton, OH) Neos Dance Theatre (Mansfield, OH) Saint Louis Ballet (St. Louis, MO) Owen/Cox Dance Group (Kansas City, MO) ODC/Dance (San Francisco, CA) Oklahoma City Ballet (Oklahoma City, OK) SATURDAY, MAY 23 Dance NOW! Miami (Miami Shores, FL) Fukudance (Portsmouth, NH) Chicago Dance Crash (Chicago, IL) Leverage Dance Theater (St. Louis, MO) MADCO (St. Louis, MO) DanceWorks Chicago (Chicago, IL) The Joffrey Ballet (Chicago, IL) Buglisi Dance Theatre (New York, NY) Camille A. Brown & Dancers (Queens, NY) Grand Rapids Ballet (Grand Rapids, MI) SUNDAY, MAY 24 Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company (St. Louis, MO) DanceWorks Chicago (Chicago, IL) MADCO (St. Louis, MO) TAKE Dance (New York, NY) Amy Seiwert’s Imagery (San Francisco, CA) The Big Muddy Dance Company (St. Louis, MO) Northwest Dance Project (Portland, OR) Compania de Baile Flamenco de Marien Luevano (Mexico) Nashville Ballet (Nashville, TN)

8th Annual Emerson SPRING TO DANCE® FESTIVAL 2015. Friday - Sunday, May 22-24, 2015. 5:30 p.m. – Terrace Lobby performances. 6 p.m. – Lee Theater performances. 7:30 p.m. – Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall performances. Touhill Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10-20 per night. For schedule and more info, visit: http://www.dancestlouis.org.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

Walking the Blue Line: A Police Officer Turned Community Activist Provides Solutions for the Racial Divide

By Terrell Carter Bettie Youngs Book Publishers

$15.00 paperback

“As I recall my experiences, I find it incredulous that people in law enforcement honestly believe and say that a racial divide and racial profiling don’t exist. An officer’s mind is divided: first, between the police and the general public and second, between the police and minorities.”~ Terrell Carter Walking the Blue Line follows the author’s experiences growing up as a black child in St. Louis, MO, a racially charged city still trying to overcome its divided past, and his five year journey as a law enforcement officer which led him to reevaluate his views on citizens and police alike. Readers are taken on a compelling journey as he details personal stories of the challenges of navigating this new world, including how he had to testify against a former partner for falsifying a major drug arrest.

Terrell details the thoughts and tactics of police officers based on their training in the police academy and lessons they learn on the streets and how this information can help citizens better understand why officers do what they do while still holding them accountable for protecting and serving their communities.

Walking the Blue Line can be ordered from www.terrellcarter.net, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and traditional booksellers.

pg. 90

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pg. 92

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pg. 94

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pg. 96

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pg. 98

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pg. 100

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

pg. 102

may 2015

truth and reconciliation The systematic harm of racism in the lives of people of color Truth and reconciliation is an instrument of understanding used to identify past wrongs. In Post-Nazi Germany, it was used in the prosecution of war crimes. In Post-Apartheid South Africa, it was used not for prosecution but to uncover information. In Post-Ferguson St. Louis... we seek healing.

This program in the series will consist of truth tellers of historically marginalized groups - people of color - who will tell their stories to a panel of European Americans who will listen.

Wednesday, May 20, 6:00 - 8:00 pm YWCA Phyllis Wheatley Heritage Center 2711 Locust Street St. Louis, MO 63103 Free Admission Childcare will be provided RSVP to Amy Hunter, ahunter@ywcastlouis.org 314-531-1115 YWCA Metro St. Louis 3820 West Pine Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63108 (314) 531-1115 www.ywcastlouis.org

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

Toni MORRISON: A Ful l C i r c l e i n M ot i on pg. 104

Abraham Lincoln’s surmising that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin begat the War Between the States is a folkloric salute to the power of language and imagination.

Stowe used a lot of sugar to advance the cause of abolition.

Superior to Stowe and members of her liberal tribe, Toni Morrison has avoided traffic in sugar or kindred flavorings.

She is a realist. The proof is in the astringent quality of her fiction and nonfiction. From the thick descriptions that lend heft to The Bluest Eye (1970) to the control of perspectives which justify the deceptive “thinness” of God Help the Child (2015), Morrison has challenged her fellow citizens to deconstruct historical process and its consequences.

Morrison’s being true unto herself has been no balm from Gilead for the most sensitive, hypocritical, self-deluded nerves of the American body politic. She has earned respect, but not love, for exposing systemic ailments that are beyond cure.

Great writers understand that (re)presenting a truth may require the rejection of love. Contemporary writers understand also that in the 21st century, ingratitude and entrapment have displaced genuine, multicultural communion and civil disagreement.

Writers who are smart do not try to walk on the quicksand of fame. Unlike Stowe, Morrison has the literary skill and mother wit to escape being a target for the moral scrutiny of a James Baldwin. And no American Commander-in-Chief shall surmise that she is complicit in promoting military warfare, no matter how much Americans hunger for political fakelore. Morrison knows how best to deal with epic absurdity by creating Lula Ann Bridewell (Bride), Booker (an intelligent black man), and Rain, a scared and whitely abused little white girl.

With God Help the Child, Morrison comes full circle back to the core of pain in her first novel, thereby creating space for total reassessment of her work to date. Perhaps her aims are better understood outside the United States than within our country. For some Americans, her work can only be read under the influence of fear associated with a rapid ascent of post-human racism. In short, as far as literary journalism goes, writers for The Guardian trump writers for the New York Times, although the UK is as besmirched by racism and fascism as the USA. British literary politics march to a different drummer.

In an interview with Hermione Hoby, published in the April 25, 2015 issue of The Guardian, Morrison asserts: “I’m writing

my books. The point is not to have the white critic sit on your shoulder and approve it.” The location

of Morrison’s utterance provokes remembering that she and readers who are some shade of color( psychologically, physiologically, and spiritually) have the option of accepting or not accepting Phillis Wheatley as a literary ancestor. These readers might note a structural kinship between As I Lay Dying and God Help the Child, but they have no obligation to claim William Faulkner as a bastard cousin. It is no surprise that Bernardine Evaristo concludes her April 19 Guardian review of God Help the Child (Chatto & Windus edition) with a fine British tone: “Morrison’s characteristically deft temporal shifts and precisely honed language deliver literary riches galore.

And while this novel is very readable, the pleasure is in working for its deeper rewards.” Being obtuse is not the apex of aesthetic achievement.

The phrases “while this novel is very readable” and “its deeper rewards” may give us pause. The qualification in the first phrase suggests that a readable text is problematic. Is Albert Camus’ very readable The Stranger somehow less good than James Joyce’s convoluted Finnegans Wake? Morrison’s novel is loaded with rewards. One is her naming the unjustly incarcerated victim “Sofia Huxley,” a clever alluding to wisdom and science; another, and one of the richest, is Booker’s saying to Lula Ann Bridewell: Scientifically there’s no such thing as race, Bride, so racism without race is a choice. Taught, of course, by those who need it, but still a choice. Folks who practice it would be nothing without it (GHTC 143).

Booker’s words are a necessary and definitive indictment.

They are related to killing a mockingbird and pimping a butterfly, because they cast light on the games Morrison’s American reviewers are hired to play.

In the United States, deeper rewards do not go unpunished, especially in the famous review pages of the New York Times and the more august pages of The New York Review of Books. Under the ambiguous title “Growing Up Too Black,” -----is it possible to grow up too white? ----Francine Prose’s TNYRB review, May 7, 2015, is generally positive and correctly “literary.” Nevertheless, she thinks aloud “Does the heady atmosphere of the mythic free the writer from having to pay attention to the details that, if gotten wrong, can distract the reader and briefly cast us out of the novel?”(13) Prose justifies her question by writing in the next paragraph: “In view of the scope and the gravity of Morrison’s themes and ambitions, why should such points matter? They do, because plausibility depends on the writer’s punctiliousness about just details as these.” (13) Hold up. The message Prose sends may be either the color of sickness unto death or a nice turn of the screw in the back.

for black people in the same way that Tolstoy was not writing for me, a 14-year-old girl from Lorrain, Ohio. I don’t [write about white people] ---which is not absolutely true, there are lots of white people in Whatever the case, Prose gives us a hint about critical literary Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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TONI MORRISON cont. matters at the middlebrow New York Times, which rarely hides its mechanics of cultural manipulation. Michiko Kakutani, who has a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, wrote, quite accurately, on April 16, 2015 [http://nyti.ms/1FNNgy4 ] that one of Morrison’s great themes “is the hold that time past exerts over time present. In larger historical terms, it is the horror of slavery and its echoing legacy that her characters struggle with.” Kakutani finds God Help the Child to be a “slim but powerful new novel,” one that “has a musical structure reminiscent of” Jazz (1992). She assumes, I guess, readers will know that the primary musical referent is Billie Holiday’s and Arthur Herzog’s “God Bless the Child,” recorded May 9, 1941. She also finds that the novel has “touches of surrealism that may initially seem jarring and bizarre, but that gradually lend Bride’s story a fair-tale-like undertow” and that ultimately the novel is “a tale that is as forceful as it is affecting, as fierce as it is resonant.” Kakutani’s review is an antidote to the surreal gesture of Kara Walker’s commentary in the NYT Sunday Book Review, April 19, 2015, page BR1 [http:// nyti.ms/1FEE7xe ] It is odd, given the impressive number of Toni Morrison scholars in the USA and abroad, that the New York Times overlooked them in favor of a visual artist whose literary achievement is a 2014 installation titled “A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby.” I guess the NYT book editors thought the installation was reminiscent of Morrison’s Tar Baby (1981) and that readers needed to be more entertained than enlightened by a woman anointed and ordained by a MacArthur “genius award.” The kicker is Walker’s contention that

“The world of ‘God Help the Child’ is crawling with child molester and child killers –on playgrounds, in back alleys ---but they remain oddly blurry, like dot-matrix snapshots culled from current headlines.

When they join the scene, it’s rarely as full citizens of the narrative, and this is a loss.”

The real loss is that Walker seems not to grasp that moralizing is an intimate part of Morrison’s extraordinary storytelling. She should have studied Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (1992) before putting Domino Sugar in the bowl. Had the NYT editors really wanted us to profit from sweetness and light, they would have invited Jessica B. Harris or Mary Helen Washington to write the Sunday review. Such a decision, however, would have endangered their flippant status as guardians of the very culture Morrison critiqued in The Bluest Eye and excoriates, in a new key, in God Help the Child.

At the clichéd end of the day or of the night, our spirits can be rested that Toni Morrison has come full circle in donating her legacy to American and world literatures. Ultimately, it is not literary criticism of Morrison that counts. What counts is reading her words to construct one’s own knowledge of how history revolves.

Jerry W. Ward, Jr. April 27, 2015

pg. 106

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Become a

Museum Teen Assistant at the Saint Louis Art Museum!

High school students between the ages of 15 and 19 can gain work and leadership experience as part of the Museum’s youth training program. The Museum hires Teen Assistants to lead tours for young audiences and to support a wide variety of community Programs.

Why is this a program for me?

In February, Family Sundays celebrates Asian art and culture with the theme “Travels through Asia.” Art projects throughout the month will include origami (Japanese paper folding), dragon puppets, and Chinese lanterns. The Museum will host a special family day on Sunday, February 15 to celebrate Chinese New Year.

We’ll ring in the Year of the Ram with special demonstrations of calligraphy, paper cutting and folding, and a Lion Dance performance in Sculpture Hall.

It is an opportunity to: •Learn job skills you will use after high school.

Family Sundays are free and open to the public. For more •Practice and improve leadership and communication skills. information about Family Sundays, visit www.slam.org/education.

•Help children appreciate and create art. ************************************** •Provide job references for academic and employment applications.

•Earn money throughout the summer and the school year.

The Saint Louis Art Museum offers many great learning You can apply if you: opportunities for the budding young artist. Youth classes at the •Are in high school and have completed 9th grade by June 2015.

Museum range in topic from sculpture to painting with oils, and •Will be returning to high school in Fall 2015. always include an exploration of the Museum’s awesome collection •Are available to work Tuesday through Friday, of art. On February 21, the Museum will celebrate the Chinese June 11-August 4, 2015, 9:00am-3:00pm.

New Year with classes for children age 6-12. The day long classes •Are available to work at least 5 hours per month during the will include lessons in paper folding (origami), printmaking, and school year (August-May). calligraphy. The Museum will also offer a one day basic drawing studio class on February 28 for teens. With guided instruction Deadline for applications: Friday, March 6, 2015, 5:00pm. from professional artists and teachers, these youth classes give young learners a chance to explore different cultures, time periods, For more information or to apply, please contact: and, of course, art! All supplies are provided and no experience is FAMILY SUNDAYS necessary.

Youth Classes

Enjoy Family Sundays at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Offered Pre-registration is required for all classes. To register, please visit every week from 1:00-4:00 pm, Family Sundays give parents and www.slam.org/education or call (314) 655-5384. children an opportunity to get creative in the Museum’s galleries.

Beginning at 1:00 pm, visitors of all ages can participate in a make and take art activity inspired by works in the Museum’s collection. At 2:30 pm, join our family tour – a 30 minute guided experience in the galleries that provides children and their parents an opportunity to interact while exploring the collection. The Family Tour leaves from Sculpture Hall at 2:30 pm and families are required to sign up. Space on the family tour is limited and slots are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. pg. 108

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

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Nothing Wasted When we nourish one another, in full circle it is returned.

Nothing Wasted

When we nourish one another, in full circle it is returned.

Feeding the free

roaming sacred cows in India is an act of

devotion rewarded

with a continuous flow

A certain level of comfort is experienced while sitting in any kitchen, particularly when food is magically being transformed to nourish everyone (no matter which continent you are on). Being invited to participate in the process of food preparation (cleaning, slicing, and dicing) in my extended family’s kitchens was one of their very first acts of inclusion into the East Indian culture. My Mamaji reminded me repeatedly this last visit, that, “All households are different, Adelia, we don’t do everything the same way.” That may appear to be the case initially, but a closer look would reveal for the most part, that we are all participating in the same recycling process. The cook is nourished through our presence, our conversation, and our participation. All are being nourished while observing, learning, participating, and appreciating this process, and of course the end point of the process will result in nourishing food!!!

of milk for our

pg. 110

Childhood Memories

At home in Varodara, milk containers that Smita (my

sister) has rinsed clean and readied for recycling.

During my visits to India, the day begins with the family gathering around cups of a special tulsi tea that my sister, Smita prepares with fresh cut herbs from her garden. After morning tea and a brief glance at the daily newspaper, I head for the kitchen to hopefully be invited to participate in some aspect of the days food preparation. I sit facing the open door to the porch, and notice several empty and rinsed clean plastic bags. These containers arrive at our home filled with 500 milliliters of raw milk on a daily basis. Remembering that throughout my life, milk has played an important role, although I’ve never really liked it that much.

Having had the privilege of growing up in Montgomery City, Mo. in a home with extended family where grandparents (on a very limited income) provided for my brother, Kenneth and me, frequently we received a gift of raw milk from Uncle “Skillet” (Grover Mahaney), it was a real treat. He would frequently share with us, the milk he had brought home from his job at the Miller Dairy Farm. He would deliver the milk in a very large glass container. My Grandmother, Nina, would wash and return the jug to Uncle Skillet for a refill. So, I would imagine that the fascination with what was happening to the milk in my East Indian home was triggered by this childhood memory.

After sharing this memory with my ‘sister’ Smita, she invited me to photograph her ‘milk magic’, this was a few years back. In Varodara, by motorcycle, before 6a.m. each morning, milk is delivered to our home in pint size plastic bags and placed in a metal container left on the front porch next to the door. However, I have yet to wake up early enough to photograph the Milkman delivering milk in Varodara. Wedding season in India is in full swing around our Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays and is on hiatus during the Christmas season, so I traveled to Mumbai for a two week Christmas holiday to visit my friend, Radha and her family (daughters, Eva, Natasha & her husband, Valroy). Natasha set the milieu to celebrate with her husband a very special holiday with decorated Christmas tree, a nativity scene beneath it’s branches, surrounded by gayly wrapped gifts, and the ambiance of Christmas carols. After a brief discussion, we tuned ‘youtube’ into

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

“A Soulful Christmas” album by The Sounds of Blackness, a great group out of Minneapolis, Minnesota and of course, the Temptation’s rendition of some more of my favorite holiday sounds like, “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Silent Night”.

We snacked, danced, sipped, and ordered Chinese ‘take out’ for our small intimate celebration and went to bed happy.

The holiday spirit remained with us throughout my visit and, I shared my memory about milk transformation with Radha one magical evening, as we were returning from brief walk and a visit to the neighborhood art supply store. There at the gates of her Society - The Ashok Villa Row Houses, there stood her milkman, Panna Lal with milk cans hanging on both sides of his bicycle at the gate of her Society (often, housing complexes in India are often called Societies) talking with the security guard. Excited about the possibilities, and determined to complete this photographic essay about ‘Milk’, we asked him if he would allow me to photograph him delivering the milk on the following day.. He agreed, then, Radha invited me to document her brand of ‘milk magic’. The milkmen, Panna and his brother, Chuni Lal arrived just after the sun set the next day.

pg. 112

Panna and Chuni Lal deliver milk to Radha.

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

Malai (cream) floating in the milk, time to make butter.

A long process that sometimes takes up to a week to produce, the milk products needed to nourish the family, Radha has heated and cooled the milk so that we can begin our documentation.

My Grandma Nina, Smita, and Radha boiled their milk in a pan on top of their stoves before consuming it, to kill any bacteria. They would let it cool, collect the fatty cream, the malai. “Malai is what we call cream.” says Smita, “It is used more often in North Indian cooking than in South Indian food” {It is the cream that comes from all kinds of milk” Often it is cow, buffalo, or goats milk, sometimes all three. Smita’s loyal friend Anjali says with a smile and a wink}.

pg. 114

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pg. 116

www.vlaa.org

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

Radha uses hand blender to make the butter.

Adding cool water aids in the separation of the milk from the fatty

creamy butter.

Radha’s son-in-law, Valroy, loves this butter. She sets aside fresh homemade butter for him to apply to his morning chapatti with fresh fruit jam.

pg. 118

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

The water in the malai froths, then becomes steam, then evaporates as the ghee rises to the top.

pg. 120

Radha’s Buffalo butter being heated to separate the milk proteins to create

ghee.

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

Radha’s ghee.

pg. 122

A stainless steel canister will store Rhada’s ghee.

Chapter 2 - Smita’s Ghee

At home in Varodara, milk containers that Smita (my sister) has rinsed clean and readied for recycling.

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space negroes pt . 2

WATCH NOW!

Animated Web Series by The Black Archaeologist.

http://blackarchaeologist.com/ pg. 124

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

After this milk cools, it is

refrigerated for

use the following day.

This is the malai that was floating above the cooled milk. Smita has

removed it from most of the milk and has placed it in a stainless steel bowl to be ‘churned’ into golden butter by using an electric wand blender.

pg. 126

Smita places the fresh butter in

pot for the ghee preparation.

Smita is heating milk on far

process for making a new batch of yogurt/curd.

burner to start

The large pot in foreground

holds butter being heated to remove milk proteins preparing the ghee.

Smita has phenomenal organizational skills and the speed at which she whirls around the kitchen (and the rest of the house for that matter) will attest

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

to that. Each morning she plans the days menu and receives assistance from expert cook, Sonal Ponchal. While Sonal chops vegetables, Smita continues to prepare the ghee, the curd, and milk proteins for prasad and other sweets. It will only take an hour for the dynamic duo to complete these task before heading off to their next challenge. Smita will head to her jewelry shop, and Sonal to her next home.

A fresh batch of ghee is now complete and will be stored

in this container and used in

the daily preparation of nutritional meals.

pg. 128

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

Milk proteins await transformation into so many scrumptious goodies.

pg. 130

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

pg. 132

Yesterdays curd provides

starter for todays batch of fresh curd.

Smita adds yogurt starter (a portion of the curd from yesterdays batch) to a pint size container of the cool milk, blends the two ingredients, pours it into the bowl and sets it on top of the refrigerator. Sometimes some of the milk is left out over night to sour more then it can be consumed as a delicious ‘buttermilk’ drink.

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

pg. 134

Leaving it out over night on top of the refrigerator as Smita often does in summer (or enclosed in the convection oven over night in winter) will supply the next days family meals with fresh home made curd and the circle goes on.

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NOTHING WASTED cont.

Reflections My Grandmother created buttermilk and other goodies, but never separated the milk fat to make ghee that I can remember, but like Smita and Radha, she had a repertoire of very exciting dining tricks the family depended on. She rendered grease from pork to fry bread, other meat, and to flavor vegetables. She rendered goose fat to rub on our chest when we had colds and heaven forbid if we had, mumps. She would then wrap our heads and jaws with a sling which has been soaked in the oil from a sardine can. Grandma, Smita, and Radha, three thrifty, and creative women nourish(ed) the bodies and the souls of their families in a very magical way.

pg. 136

IN THE SPIRIT OF

COLEl-M MALjj M alik Shabazz) (El-Ha

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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.

pg. 138

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.

Please help us reach our goal today!

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pg. 140

FROM: Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club/ Southern Illinois University Edwardsville English Department: 618 650-3991; eredmon@siue.edu TO: All Media, Poets & Writers, Dancers, Musicians & Music Students, Visual Artists & Photographers, Citizens “DA-DUM-DUN” May 15 in East St. Louis, IL: Miles, Dumas, Dunham, Angelou & New Book By Darlene Roy Honored At Annual Multi-Arts Festival of Jazz, Poetry, Dance, Exhibits & Book Signings

By Ramses Yasantewe

East Saint Louis, Illinois—Five artistic-cultural geniuses who profoundly drew from--and invested in--cultural fulcrums of this city will be honored Friday, May 15, at 6:00 pm, on SIUE’s East St. Louis Higher Education Campus, 601 J.R. Thompson Dr. (ESL, IL 62201). Titled “Da-Dum-Dun,” the annual free family festival will take place in the Multipurpose Room of HEC’s Building “D.” The Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club, now in its 29th year, is collaborating with several other area organizations to sponsor the event.

Honorees include music avant-gardist Miles Dewey Davis III (1926-1991); literary treasure Henry Lee Dumas (19341968); dance doyenne Katherine Dunham (1909-2006); the “phenomenal” Maya Angelou (1928-2014); and Darlene Roy, Club president and author of a new book, “Afro-Synthesis: A Feast of Poetry & Folklore.” They will be feted in jazz by the Bosman Twins and Ptah Williams; poetry/prose by members/associates of the Writers Club; and dance/drums by Dunham-influenced artists, including Sunshine’s Community Performance Ensemble.

Poets will include Roscoe “Ros” Crenshaw, Shirley LeFlore, Charlois Lumpkin, DuEwa Frazier, Treasure Shields Redmond, Jeffrey Skoblow, Jaye P. Willis and EBR. A planned multimodal exhibit, titled DavisDumasDunhamAngelou, will be provided from SIUE’s EBR Collection.

Davis, born in Alton (IL) and raised in East St. Louis, played professionally as a teenager. At New York’s Julliard School of Music he joined pianist Eugene Haynes, Jr., his equally brilliant Lincoln High classmate. Davis led several “revolutions” in jazz during his long, star lit career. Dumas, whom Toni Morrison called “an absolute genius,” was born in Sweet Home, Ark., where he lived until the age of 10 before moving to Harlem, NY. East St. Louisans experienced his “genius” at SIUE’s Experiment in Higher Education (EHE)—1967-1968—where, as a teacher, he impacted the lives of gifted students like poet Sherman Fowler, filmmaker Warrington Hudlin III, and teacher Karen Perkins (Watkins).

EHE faculty included Joyce Ladner, Oliver Jackson, Dunham, and Edward Crosby.

Center (PATC) here in 1967 where dancers Darryl Braddix, Valerie (Howard) Adams, Ruby Streate and Anne Walker—and drummers Arthur Moore and James Belk— were trained. PATC faculty included master drummers Mor Thiam (Senegalese) and Rene Calvin (Haitian) along with former members of Dunham’s Dance Companies of the 1930’s-1950’s: Archie Savage, Vanoye Aikins, Talley Beatty, Ural Wilson, Lucille Ellis, Tommy Gomez, and Glory Van Scott. PATC senior consultants included Leo Hicks, Wyvetter H. Younge (later, Illinois State Representative), and Redmond, also Dumas’ colleague in EHE (and current poet laureate of this city).

(During the 1960’s, EHE, PATC, BAG [Black Artists’ Group of St. Louis], Black Culture, Inc., the Mary Brown Center, IMPACT House, Eddie Fisher and Allan Merry’s Young Disciples [YODI Enterprises], and Black River Writers Press formed one of the most diverse arts & activist collectives in the US.) Angelou and Redmond met formally in 1970—in Sacramento (CA)--where she made the following request: “Eugene, be my brother forever.” She later became a “trustee” of Redmond’s namesake Writers Club (1986) and Senior Consulting Editor to his “Drumvoices Revue” (1991). They often toured together, collaborated on numerous projects and remained close for 44 years. At Angelou’s 85th birthday celebration, hosted by Oprah Winfrey, hundreds of Redmond’s photos were projected on to seven giant screens.

“Da-Dum-Dun” will include a book signing by Roy (“AfroSynthesis”) and contributors to “Drumvoices Revue.”

Co-published by the Writers Club and SIUE, “Drumvoices” often profiles Davis, Dumas, Dunham, Angelou and Roy. Club events go back to 1986, when poet Jayne Cortez (1934-2012), a frequent contributor to “Drumvoices,” led a workshop with the group in ESL. Chartered by Fowler, Roy, and Redmond, the EBR Writers Club meets twice monthly at HEC. Club trustees—who also serve on the editorial board of “Drumvoices”—are Avery Brooks, Haki R. Madhubuti, Walter Mosley, Quincy Troupe, Jerry Ward Jr., and Lena J. Weathers. Besides Angelou, trustees who have joined the ancestors include Margaret Walker Alexander (1915-1998), Amiri Baraka (1934-2014), Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), Raymond Patterson (1929-2001), and native daughter Barbara Ann Teer (1937-2008). For information, call 618 6503991; write the Club at P.O. Box 6165, East St. Louis, Illinois 62201; or send an email to eredmon@siue.edu.

Meanwhile, Dunham set up her Performing Arts Training

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pg. 142

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.

Everything First-Time Home Buyers Need to Know Home Ownership: Not Passe’ The American belief in the ideal of homeownership is still a major part of the American Dream. It is as patriotic as apple pie and baseball. Some who have reviewed the recently released 2015 Census, first quarter Homeownership Statistics, worry that Americans have taken a step back from the notion of homeownership.The national homeownership rate (Americans wwho owned vs. rented their primary residence) increased significantly during the housing boom, reaching its peak of 69.2% in 2004. The CensusBureau just reported the first quarter of 2015 ended with a homeownership rate of 63.7%. It is true the homeownership rate has fallen over the last several years. However, if you look at the national rate over the last 30 years (1984-2014), you can see that the current homeownership ratehas returned closer to historic norms. The 63.7% rate is less than a percentage point under the rate in 1985 and 1995.

will probably begin to increase:

“The homeownership rate is likely to bottom this year or next not far from where we are now. Byhistorical patterns, the rate could indeed go up. The simple math behind what it costs to rent versus buy shows that if you can afford the down payment and qualify for a mortgage, it is cheaper to buy rather than rent in 80% of the counties in the US now.”

With interest rates and prices still below where experts predict, perhaps we should get together and evaluate your ability to purchase a home.

What Will the Future Bring?

In a Housing Wire this week, Ed Stansfield who manages the housing market research at Capital Economics said:

“The homeownership rate fell further at the start of the year to a 22-year low of 63.7. However, with credit conditions now loosening and employment set to continue growing strongly, we suspect this long downward trend may not last for much longer.” In the same article referenced

above, Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for realtor.com, explained why the homeownership rate

pg. 144

FE PR AT OP UR ER ED TY

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

25 Duchesne

Florissant, Missouri 63031

$84,900

DESCRIPTION: 2br/2ba Bungalow. You won’t find a more charming home at this price! Conveniently located, this home’s attractive curbside appeal is just the beginning. It’s maintenance free exterior leaves you more time to relax, bbq & entertain this summer in the spacious fenced backyard w/ large patio.

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ROBOTS TAKE OVER ST. LOUIS! FRC (FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION)

CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 ST. LOUIS

#omgrobots!

Where were you when the Robots took over downtown St. Louis?

Last month, March 22nd - 25th, high school robotics teams from all around the world came to St. Louis to compete in the annual FIRST Robotics World Championship Competition. My team, The University City Robolion #3397, was among those teams competing in this year’s game - Recycle Rush.

pg. 146

To give you a little background. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded by Inventor, Dean Kamen in 1989 to “inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology”. So every year a game task is developed and presented during kick off day which is in January. Teams then have to design and build a robot to complete the game tasks in order to compete in the games. The task or problem for this year was to pick up totes (like the ones at FedEx), as well as a green recycling trash can and put it on the landfill. You get points by how many totes you stack before adding the litter-filled trash can on top.

For about six weeks with guidance from our mentors, we prototyped and eventually built a robot from the kit of parts we were issued. We worked our hardest to make our robot operate to it’s true potential, when done we named her Clawdia RobesPierre. She was able to drive, lift/stack 5 totes and a recycle bin. In autonomous she could drive forward carrying a tote or bin.

On competition day we (and other teams), had to make modifications to the robot so that it could weigh under 120 pounds, and stack more without wasting much time. We played about 12 games, each game was one minute long.

During the first 20 seconds team members could not touch their controllers or step over the yellow line. This 20 seconds is called Autonomous mode, during this period your robot is running by itself according to the codes your team built. After the 20 seconds passed human players were allowed to touch the controls and manually drive the robots. We had to use two drivers, one to control the arm/lift, the other to drive and maneuver. The drive stations are controlled by two Xbox controllers and one computer. This computer runs code to the robot wirelessly, and get live picture from the camera that’s on the robot.

There were about 40,000 students registered for the competition which was held downtown St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome.

There were teams and robots from all over the world, about 600 total. Like other robotics competitions, everywhere you looked there were flags of different countries, team uniforms of all colors and other geeky outrageous costumes running around

Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

downtown. We were assigned to the Galileo field where we were in alliance with teams from South Africa, Canada, Mexico and many other places. Our sister team from Israel was also there, but they were on another field.

The competition was serious, but with “Gracious Professionalism” all teams were eliminated until only 6 teams were left. Then we all cheered on our favorite teams, visited the NASA Satelite truck that was live streaming, got autographs from celebrities (Will I Am, Grant Imahara of Myth Busters) and more!

Next year try to attend the Robotics World Championship downtown. Even though it’s a “mind” sport, there is lots of fun dancing, playing, seeing tech or parts demos, and visiting scholarship rowe. Be there for the next Robot take over!

Bria Harris Sophmore University City High School

We are an open team, meaning you do not have to live in University City to join. Combined, we put in about 2,500 hours on and off season providing demonstrations at school science fairs, at the library, and other community events. For more information our team Coaches can be reached at: Coach Ed Dietzler robolions3397@gmail.com Coach Dana Shelton dshelton@lmiaerospace.com If you are interested in learning more about FIRST and the Scholarship opportunities that are available visit here http://www.usfirst.org/.

To watch the reveal video that we made click here

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

pg. 148

University City School District, FIRST, Boeing, ConAgra, LMI Aerospace, Ranken, by Design Media etc, Three Kings Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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Howard University Alumni Club of St. Louis

Trivia Night 2015 A Scholarship Fundraiser Gather your team, reserve your table, and come ready to have a good time and win some prizes along the way. Snacks and soft drinks provided. Participants are welcome to bring their own food -- folks have been known to bring food, decorate their tables and come dressed in “team theme” …let the competition begin!

Come ready to have fun and learn some interesting black facts in the areas of pop culture, music, history, sports, entertainment, religion, business, and more. Proceeds from this event support our scholarship giving, so it is truly a party with a purpose.

!

Friday, May 29th, 2015 6:45-10:00 PM Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School, 701 North Spring Ave., 63108 Doors open 6:00 PM and 1st round begins 6:45 PM Tickets: $20/Table: $200 Contact huacstlouis@gmail.com if you have questions.

pg. 150

A couple years ago, a friend of a friend hired me to repair his

grandmother’s quilt. Over the phone he told me it was old, though he didn’t know how old. It had been folded up in a plastic bag for years, but it was still very precious to him and he didn’t want any more of it to fall apart. It was the only thing of hers that he owned and he wanted to be able to pass it to one of his children one day.

Michael and I met at the local library. We spread his grandmother’s quilt on one of the library tables and we both let out an audible sigh. The quilt was falling apart. I could tell from looking at it that the quilt had been well loved and used a lot. The multicolored stars were faded and some of the diamond-shaped patches had worn thin or were completely missing. His grandmother’s loving hands had sewn a couple thousand fabric diamonds into once-breathtaking stars bordered by still-rich purple blocks. I can’t say the quilt was beautiful to look at. But I will say that you could feel the love in every stitch…. And that got me to thinking about the importance of making something to leave behind.

I started quilting 20 years ago as a way of getting rid of scraps left over from sewing and also because I got tired of mending my paternal grandmother’s quilt that had been on my bed since I was 9 years old. My grandma had left me something of value that I always kept close to me from childhood to adulthood. It wasn’t a monetary value. Having her quilt filled in the space left by her death.

My grandmother’s quilt also taught me the importance of making something. Most if not all of the old quilts that we value are the result of scarcity. Our grandparents didn’t have the money or accessibility to go to a mall and buy blankets to sleep under. Money was scarce.

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Opportunity was scarce. So they made what they needed with what they had.

This got me thinking…. If you don’t make anything, what are you leaving behind for anyone to remember? Sure, everyone wants the money. But once the money is in the bank, will anyone really remember (or care) where the money came from? It’s the things that you leave behind that people remember – whether they’re art, money, furniture, a piece of jewelry, or a quilt. Yet, there’s a distinct difference between something bought and something made.

My grandmother’s quilt and Michael’s grandmother’s quilt have value because they mean something special to us. They have value because we say they have value. Through creation you tell the story of who you are. And if you make nothing, you leave the door open for someone else to weave that tale.

Every time I meet someone who tells me about their grandmother’s quilt or quilt, I always tell them to have someone sew a label on the back of it with the maker’s name, years they lived, and the place where they lived. That’s important because we need to make sure that we tell the tale of our own families and to give importance to our ancestors. Do not let the rest of history be told and allow “anonymous” to leave a gap where our people once stood. And better yet, go make something yourself. Leave something for the future.

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pg. 152

THE PROJECT ON THE HISTORY OF BLACK WRITING ANNOUNCES:

Black Poetry after the Black Arts Movement When: July 19 - August 1, 2015 Where: University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS What: An NEH Summer Institute Application deadline: March 2, 2015 We invite you to learn more about an exciting two-week NEH summer Institute for twenty-five college and university teachers (including at least three advanced graduate students), filled with innovative scholarship, rich dialog, and fertile opportunities for advancing research.

What is poetry today? What has changed? How do we teach poetry and transform students’ passion for performance into meaningful analysis? This Institute seeks to strengthen the connections between foundational and contemporary forms of poetry, between the practice of poetry and today’s global society, and between the words and sounds and the spirit of black poetry that refuses to be denied.

If you are a current college or university teacher of American literature or near the end of your graduate studies in this field, please visit our website www.blackpoetry.ku.edu for more details about this exciting project, including further application instructions. The stipend for this two-week Institute will be $2,100 for each NEH Summer Scholar, to help cover travel, housing and food.

Or, if you know of a college teacher who might be interested in applying to this Institute, please share this invitation with them! www.blackpoetry.ku.edu

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

BA LT I MO RE G IN

S I R

pg. 154

Baltimore Rising

By Pierre Blaine

Wow, are we in some kind of time warp or time loop like we use to get caught up in Star Trek where we keep re-living the same type of incidents over and over and over again until Data, who is not human, realizes that something is afoot and goes about the business of fixing the problem and educating everyone else what is really happening?…

Just like America, Baltimore is rooted in a history of poverty and abandoned buildings- about 16,000 at last count and caught up in income inequality. According to Data – Blacks make up 63% of the population in Baltimore with whites checking in at 32%. Blacks live below the poverty level at 24% compared to 13% of whites living below the poverty level.

The types of jobs available have been low-wage service sector albeit growing at 60% while middle-wage jobs and high-wage jobs have been growing at less than 10%.

The FBI has reported that all over America police departments are made up of departments that do not look like the communities they police. In Baltimore, according to a Washington Post analysis, 50% of the police department is white. There has been a pattern of income inequality, low educational achievement, and non-access to job opportunities regardless of educational attainment. At age 22, 89% of white high school dropouts were working compared to 40% of black dropouts. Lastly, the police force has been implementing a “zero tolerance policing” practice since 2005 which has culminated into Baltimore Police payout of $5.7 million in lawsuits from excessive force cases.

So Data has sat us all down and is telling us that we are in a time warp of recurring events all over the United States from Baltimore, to St. Louis, to Ferguson, to New York, to Chicago, to North Charleston in which we all have been sitting back and watching inequality grow, infrastructure collapse, and police departments accept excessive force as departmental policy.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney announced that 6 Baltimore police officers will face charges in the death of Freddie Gray. The death has been ruled homicide. However, what is important to say at this point in the process is that all the police officers who have been charged are innocent until proven guilty. Baltimore rising is that the police officers get due process and will get their day in court, Baltimore rising is that is different than what happened in Ferguson.

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By Lee Patton Chiles

Music Produced By TBeats Entertainment

pg. 156

April 15, 2015

Gitana Productions original play “Black and Blue” explores complex relationship between African Americans and the police Opening Friday, May 22 at the Missouri History Museum ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – “Black and Blue,” an original play by Gitana Productions that explores the complex relationship between the African American community and the police, opens Friday, May 22 at the Missouri History Museum.

The play, written by Lee Patton Chiles with music produced by TBeats Entertainment, encourages cross-cultural understanding and healing in light of the Michael Brown shooting and susequent events in Ferguson.

Admission is free to eliminate cost barriers and bring this important message to as many people as possible, according to Gitana Executive Director Cecilia Nadal.

“The events in Ferguson and across the country ruptured widespread denial about the state of race relations and equal justice under the law in our country,” said Nadal. “This play peels back the presumption of guilt on both sides of the issue so that we can begin the healing process.”

When Nadal first heard about Michael Brown's shooting death last August, she raced to Ferguson to participate in the protests and try to make sense of what had happened.

“As soon as Michael Brown was shot and the protests began, I knew I needed to be there," said Nadal. “I was on the protest line for 10 days and made a point of talking with people of different nationalities and races. I was looking for something.”

What she found were people’s unique stories. She worked with playwright Lee Patton Chiles to weave those stories into a spoken-word performance about the historical tension between African-American communities and law enforcement, presenting both viewpoints.

Chiles based “Black and Blue” on a compilation of interviews with police officers and members of the African American community. Performers include professional actors as well as people from the community and the Center of Hope and Peace.

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BLACK AND BLUE cont.

The eight community actors, all of whom were active in the Ferguson protests, include a nurse/youth educator; a 12-year-old girl; a high school student; a 19-year-old man who was teargassed and shot with rubber and wooden bullets; and David Royal, a Ferguson activist with eight children who founded the Center of Hope and Peace. Guest recording artist Dyce will perform his debut single WALK WITH U.S. The lineup of professional and community actors is at www.gitana-inc.org/stage.

Music for the play was produced by TBeats Entertainment, a music recording and production company owned by Anthony (Tony) Thompson, CEO of Kwame Building Group and a noted African American community leader. Most of the music was written, recorded and contributed by Thompson and TBeats Studio recording artists, with lyrics by Lee Patton Chiles. TBeats Studios is a quality recording facility in downtown St. Louis, providing a range of training and artist support services to help musicians create, learn, and progress in their careers. For more information, visit www.tbeatsstudio.com.

Performances at the Missouri History Museum run from May 22-24. “Black and Blue” also will be presented over a four-week run at Kranzberg Art Center from May 29-31; Greater St. Mark Family Church on June 7; and St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley from June 19-21.

Reservations are required at all locations except the Missouri History Museum, where admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets are limited and reservations can be made online at www.gitana-inc.org, by calling (314) 721-6556 or emailing info@gitana-inc.org.

Each performance will be followed by a question-and-answer session featuring community leaders.

“Black and Blue” Performance Schedule Missouri History Museum Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23 - 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 24 - 3:00 p.m. Matinee *First-come, first-served •

Kranzberg Arts Center 501 N. Grand near the Fox Theater Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30 - 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 31 - 3:00 p.m. Matinee *Reservations required

pg. 158

The eight community actors, all of whom were active in the Ferguson protests, include a nurse/youth educator; a 12-year-old girl; a high school student; a 19-year-old man who was teargassed and shot with rubber and wooden bullets; and David Royal, a Ferguson activist with eight children who founded the Center of Hope and Peace. Guest recording artist Dyce will perform his debut single WALK WITH U.S. The lineup of professional and community actors is at www.gitana-inc.org/stage.

Music for the play was produced by TBeats Entertainment, a music recording and production company owned by Anthony (Tony) Thompson, CEO of Kwame Building Group and a noted African American community leader. Most of the music was written, recorded and contributed by Thompson and TBeats Studio recording artists, with lyrics by Lee Patton Chiles. TBeats Studios is a quality recording facility in downtown St. Louis, providing a range of training and artist support services to help musicians create, learn, and progress in their careers. For more information, visit www.tbeatsstudio.com.

Performances at the Missouri History Museum run from May 22-24. “Black and Blue” also will be presented over a four-week run at Kranzberg Art Center from May 29-31; Greater St. Mark Family Church on June 7; and St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley from June 19-21.

Reservations are required at all locations except the Missouri History Museum, where admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets are limited and reservations can be made online at www.gitana-inc.org, by calling (314) 721-6556 or emailing info@gitana-inc.org.

Each performance will be followed by a question-and-answer session featuring community leaders.

“Black and Blue” Performance Schedule Missouri History Museum Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23 - 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 24 - 3:00 p.m. Matinee *First-come, first-served •

Kranzberg Arts Center 501 N. Grand near the Fox Theater Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30 - 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 31 - 3:00 p.m. Matinee *Reservations required

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pg. 160

Follow us @ArtsTodayez

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Is St. Louis Being Stereotyped?

We all know that people are stereotyped, it’s as old as time, perhaps going back before recorded history. We tire of it, yet tolerate it, we complain about it, yet it continues unabated. Stereotypes can lead to social injustice; it boxes people in and denies individuality. They’re fixed pictures in our heads that resist the fungible walls between perception and reality.

Having said that, stereotypes go beyond class, race and gender. Institutions such as marriage can be stereotyped. Occupations can be stereotyped, such as college professors.

Even

cities can face its warp and woof. St. Louis is a case in point, as it seems to undergo a huge barrage of negative generalizations. While there are negative and positive broad-brush statements about practically everything, negative ones typically carry more weight.

Stereotypes can be likened to a lie and "lies have short legs and run fast and truth has long legs and runs slower.”

The contention is that St. Louis is no more racist than its comparable cities. Yet, why does it seem to be so typecast while others seem to be not as burdened? It’s in a lockbox and can’t get out.

During “The Great Migration to the North” -- between World War I and World War II -African Americans positively stereotyped Chicago and other northern cities. Back then, many would say: “In Chicago, you don’t even know you’re Black,” which now probably

pg. 162

brings on an incredulous laugh or gasp. Black southerners also metaphorically said: “In the North money grows on trees.” Many of their recent transplant friends and relatives from the North would visit and further reinforced the stereotype with eye-popping tales of good times and easy living, which didn’t make it any better. Still carrying the whiff of their country bumpkin ways, they’d flaunt their newfound wealth or borrowed wealth with their shiny new cars, fancy clothes and flashy jewelry. Fortunately, we have by and large let go of this nonsense. We’d be hard pressed to still hew to the belief that the North is the Promised

Land, classless, raceless and genderless.

Thousands also poured into St. Louis during The Great Migration era. In 1913, the city’s Black population was less than 15 percent. However, St. Louis didn’t seem to enjoy the same status of being as open and free for Blacks as places such as Chicago, although White Chicagoans were quite similar in their racial attitudes and behaviors.

St. Louis then and now doesn’t seem to have much of a regional distinction. The River City’s location and history most likely contributed to its backwards, stodgy and racist image.

“The Gateway to the West,” it was and still called. At the same time, it could be called “The Gateway” to any region as its central location made it sort of the nation’s crossroads.

Missouri is bordered by a large number of states, eight to be exact: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Nebraska. While it’s considered the Midwest, it has connections and influences from virtually every part of the country. Some people insist that it’s in the South and many simply call it “fly over country.”

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ST. LOUIS STEREOTYPED cont.

It was a slave state that fought on the side of the Union, which most likely clouded its already murky history. It’s location also played a pivotal role as a strategic advantage during the Civil War. Older and larger than Chicago, it was poised to be the financial juggernaut of the Midwest. But Chicago soon became its trade rival. With savvier politicians and business leaders, “The Windy City” aggressively pushed for railroad networks more attractive to shippers and traders. Eventually, the epicenter of secular and commercial culture shifted from St. Louis to Chicago and the rest is history.

But St. Louis also compounded its ambiguous distinction by “shooting itself in the foot.” In the late 19th century, it was ranked as the fourth-largest city in the country. But on that fateful day, August 22, 1876, the city voted to secede from St. Louis County, which it considered a financial burden.

The city’s governmental structure is one of the most unique in the country, operating as both a city and a county. Hence, it’s difficult to compare St. Louis City to others. It’s a mere 62 square miles compared to St. Louis County, which measures 508 square miles. With St. Louis County now having the lion’s share of the population and resources, the child has long been more prosperous than the parents who abandoned her. Now with hat in hand, the parents from time-to-time seek to reunite. St. Louis City has fewer than 320 thousand people; St. Louis County has more than a million. The city’s Black population is about 50 percent while the county is about half of that or 25 percent.

pg. 164

Yet the county is not without its birth defects, its complicated and tortuous 91 municipalities have handicapped it politically and economically. Ferguson and other municipalities are cases in point that must cannibalize its residents with excessive traffic fines in order to survive. But similar to “The Great Migration,” many Blacks fled the city to Ferguson and nearby North County suburbs, under the illusion that they could escape race bias. A recent article on the website, Atlantic, reported that despite having Emerson Electric, in its backyard, a $24 billion a year Fortune 500 Company -- “Ferguson received an estimated $68,000 in property taxes from the corporate headquarters … not even enough to pay the municipal judge and his clerk to hand out the fines and sign the arrest warrants.”

So the question remains: Is St. Louis being unfairly labeled or stereotyped? Yes and no.

Yes, it’s conservative and racist; but also no, because it’s like everywhere else in the U.S. Granted, it has not kept up financially with Chicago or St. Louis County and its population has dwindled. It was as high as 860 thousand in 1950; since then losing more than a half-amillion people. Nevertheless, past and current living conditions for Blacks are not much different to its comparable urban areas, such as Kansas City, Missouri, Indianapolis, Louisville, Cleveland, Cincinnati or Pittsburgh.

There is a zeitgeist in the U.S., haunted by the specter of racism that shapes its history, customs and practices. The South is south of Canada, as they say. In other words, the entire country has always been racist and conservative. It has a racist patina and an undercurrent that ripples throughout.

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SAVE THE DATE

Shooting a hole in one for those in need

th

10 Annual Golf Tournam pg. 166

July 17, 2015

CWAH Ambassadors

e

ment

- Forest Park

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ST. LOUIS STEREOTYPED cont.

Where is this racial paradise; this haven for Africans in the diaspora? If there is one, it’s highly likely that there’d be another “Great Migration” a stampede as it were -- of Blacks bolting there. Yes, there have been previous large movements, but hopes are soon dashed.

At the same time, the nation’s Constitution, the bedrock of principles and laws, is based on freedom, liberty and democracy, yet in practice, it roils with contradictions and conflicts. It’s indeed a work in progress, still struggling with its White patriarchal heritage.

Is New York City classless, raceless and genderless? Shall we say Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell or Eric Garner and scores of other homicide victims perpetrated by New York’s finest? Or the Stop and Frisk law where Black and Latino males were hassled by law enforcement, most of them without probable cause? The law was significantly scaled-back by New York City’s incoming mayor. In fact this was one of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign issues in which he victoriously rode into office, January 1, 2014.

Chicago historically also has had its share of woes in oppressing its Black residents.

According to a recent posting on the MSNBC website: “A former Chicago police commander who for decades ran a torture ring that used electrical shock, burning and beatings on more than 100 black men has been released from federal prison after spending less than four years behind bars.

Jon Burge was transferred to a Florida halfway house … reigniting the nightmares of many of his victims. Burge and his crew of detectives terrorized the city’s predominantly black South Side throughout the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.”

pg. 168

On the front page of the New York Times, April 21, 2015, the headline read: “1.5 Million Black Men Missing from Daily Life.” The article discusses early death and incarceration as main culprits. Most know that for African Americans, there is a double standard when it comes to arrest, prosecutorial discretion and jail time. These gross disparities and social injustices are occurring throughout the nation. As homicides and other crimes decline, it noted that incarcerations have gone up. The article further states: “… More than one out of every six black men who today should be between 25 and 54 years old has disappeared from daily life.”

Cities with sizeable Black populations experience more discrimination and have greater disparities, such as in Ferguson, Missouri. The report noted that Ferguson has 60 men for every 100 Black women. It only has 21 thousand people of which 67 percent are Black. As low-to- moderate income Blacks along with female-headed households increased in Ferguson, it set the stage for increasing police misconduct and brutality, such as the gunning down of teenager Michael Brown August 2014 that became a cause célèbre.

At one time, many African American artists, writers and intellectuals flocked to Paris and other parts of Europe to escape the pricks and stings of racism. Yet today, with Europe being overrun by immigrants primarily from Africa, a right-wing anti-immigrant movement has emerged.

The U.S. is primarily the result of blind, grasping and petulant progress marked by free and cheap labor along with land grabs. Land, labor and capital co-exist cheek by jowl with the

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ST. LOUIS STEREOTYPED cont.

exploitation of poor people and people of color for wealth creation. This was undergirded

by Manifest Destiny, the 19 century doctrine that the expansion of the U.S. throughout the th

American continents was both justified and inevitable, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Arctic to the Antarctic. But if you fast-forward today, many of these age-old principles and practices remain intact.

To stereotype a city, not only deprives it of its uniqueness but its fluidity, in other words, the incoming and outgoing populations to and from other parts of the country and the world as well as other changes have profound and dynamic influences, yet this seems to be ignored when it comes to St Louis.

Like, anywhere else, St. Louis is neither static nor frozen in

time. Yet places such as New York City and now Baltimore with the recent heinous murder of Freddie Gray connected to police malfeasance seem to escape these labels or stereotypes.

Why? Perhaps if St. Louisans would be more prideful, it could convey a more realistic image. Yes, it has plenty of drawbacks but it also has tremendous assets. For example, the city is multicultural and many people do quite well including African Americans. This doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to fight with all our might to dismantle institutionalized discrimination. Yet, it seems that St. Louisans are quick to be negative and even join in with newcomers and visitors who come with apparent preconceived notions.

Unlike Atlanta residents, accused long ago of shameless promotion, but you can’t be mad at them, because look at their progress. Still, Atlanta has high poverty rates, around 28 percent about the same as St. Louis City.

pg. 170

Nonetheless, St. Louisans simply ought to let up with such fierce negative self-talk, because when you’re talking against your own city, you’re talking about everybody in it, including yourself. Recently the Atlanta Journal Constitution piled on with its article highly critical of St. Louis, titled: St Louis: Enduring Missteps Carry High Cost. There have been other selfdeprecating videos circulating on Facebook and the Internet, like the Funny or Die videos.

Nothing wrong with being self-critical but there needs to be a balance.

Another critique is that there’s no Black leadership in St. Louis, which is patently false. The city like others has always had its progressive elements. Black leaders, old and young, birthed the current national movement against predatory policing and its attendant issues with the clarion call: “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” But don’t wait on the establishment media or the press to inform you of progressive individuals, because it’s not part of their business model, despite its fourth estate duties. To seek the truth, one must have social agency by doing much of the following: • • • • • • • • •

venture out on your own and see for yourself what’s actually going on read thoughtful, credible and progressive publications be a keen observer be a good listener ask good questions be a critical and analytical thinker engage in dialogue with knowledgeable people join a mass organization and be civically engaged

Lastly: “Where did you go to high school?” Breaking News – there’s nothing wrong with asking that question. In fact, it’s a good one.

Malaika Horne, PhD, journalist and academic writer

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pg. 172

OPPORTUNITIES

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

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

PUT SOMETHING CLEAN ON YOUR TV! Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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pg. 174

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pg. 176

For Immediate release

Annie Malone Marching to Decrease Youth Homelessness- Rain or Shine St. Louis, MO – The annual Annie Malone May Day parade will begin promptly at 1:00 pm on Sunday, May 17th, at Jefferson and Market and heads east on Market and will disband at 7th street. The theme this year is “Marching to Decrease Youth Homelessness.” We are excited to announce that just like life goes on rain or shine - so will our annual parade. We are monitoring the weather with the help of our media partners and are confident that the weather will shine on us this Sunday” says Interim Chief Executive Officer, Bill Young.

Annie Malone Children and Family Service center, a United Way agency has been improving the lives of children and families for well over one hundred years. Events like the Annual Annie Malone May Day Parade make it possible for the programs and services to continue “Making Lives Better” Crisis Care and Emergency Residential Placement: Services provides a safe 24 hour environment designed with intervention measures to immediately alleviate crisis by providing emergency shelter, food, clothing, educational needs, conflict resolution, emergency medical attention and counseling referrals to prevent child abuse and neglect. The program helps to reduce parental stress, improve family communication skills, and prevent future crisis.

Parenting Education: offers a free 10 or 16 week community based program providing instruction to reestablish and promote healthy relationships between parents and children. The course is designed to help prevent child abuse, improve communication skills and successfully raise and appropriately discipline children.

Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center is here to help children and families faced with difficult situations. We are a 24 hour facility. Visit our website or call for more information about all of our programs and services.

Data and outcomes show the agency is making a positive impact in the lives of its clients. For example: · Crisis and Respite Services – 82% of parents decreased levels of stress · Transitional Living Program – 77% of participants improved life skills development · Emerson Academy Therapeutic School – 67% improved math and reading skills by one grade level · Parenting Education – 77% showed improved scores on pre- and post-test assessments. ### Niecy Davis Special Events/Marketing Coordinator Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center 2612 Annie Malone Drive St. Louis, MO 63113 ( Office: (314) 531-0120 X 2124 ( Fax: (314) 531-0125 Email: ndavis@anniemalone.com Website: http://www.anniemalone.com

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pg. 178

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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

pg. 180

Falconer Awarded

Fulbright Scholar Grant

in Public/Global Health Jameca Falconer, adjunct faculty member in Multidisciplinary Studies at Webster University and director for Counseling and Psychological Services at Logan University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant in Public/Global Health to lecture and train at University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus in Barbados during the 2015 academic year, the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced recently.

Falconer will conduct training for faculty, students, community members and community health workers to meet the behavioral health and primary care needs of rural, underserved populations. This is crucial in many rural communities where there is a huge shortage in mental health practitioners. The Mental Health Commission of Barbados indicates that their mission is to heighten public awareness and increase sensitivity to the various issues affecting persons suffering from mental health issues. Thus, this project is appropriate and necessary in order to provide additional training and education in this area.

Falconer is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2014-2015.

She was recently a recipient of a Shining Light Award from Missouri Families4Families along with students and fellow Webster faculty member Deborah Stiles, professor of Applied Educational Psychology and School Psychology, for their research on area schools’ reactions to the crisis in Ferguson.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ST. LOUIS POET LAUREATE UNITY COMMUNITY EVENT MAY 23RD, 2015 at BLANK SPACE FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC “UNITY COMMUNITY” presented by ST. LOUIS POET LAUREATE DR. MICHAEL CASTRO Saturday, May 23rd at 3:00pm--5:00pm Blank Space 2847 Cherokee Street St. Louis, MO 63118 Free Featuring poets Jacqui Germain, Aja La’Starr, DuEwa Frazier, Spitfire, Chris Parr, Lenny Smith and the K-Word teen poets.

St. Louis, MO--Michael Castro, Poet Laureate of St. Louis, and creator of the Unity Community poetry series presents its latest iteration on Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 at Blank Space (2847 Cherokee Street). According to Castro, “the Unity Community series brings members of St. Louis’ diverse poetry communities together for ‘honest-talk, spirit-talk, and playful talk,’ and is presented to promote and serve as a model for the kind of frank, soulful dialogue between communities much needed in St. Louis.” This season’s event will feature a spectrum of ages, styles, and perspectives from both young, new, emerging voices and seasoned, veteran poets.

Poet Jacqui Germain is a student activist, author, and multi-year and multi-level National Poetry Slam Competitor. The Pushcart Prize-nominated writer is a student at Washington University and is a member of the Button Poetry collective. Also performing will be poet and emcee Aja LaStarr, author of the book Five Miles to Empty and facilitator of the community art group Poetry for Personal Power. The Xavier University graduate has for years served various communities both at home and abroad through her social justice work, and continues to do so with homeless outreach and youth-poetry initiatives. Like Aja LaStarr, poet DuEwa Frazier is multi-talented author, educator, editor, and publisher who recently moved back to St. Louis after spending many years in New York. An MFA graduate of The New School, Frazier is the author of two books of poetry, a children’s book, and the award-winning Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees. Dr. Chris Parr is a poet and Professor of Religious Studies at Webster University. He is co-director, with Tony Renner, of the Chance Operations poetry reading series. Parr is a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, and of Tongan and Samoan ancestry. He has been an active protester against racism both in New Zealand and the United States, mostrecently in Ferguson, where at one protest he was arrested for not moving. Susan “Spitfire” Lively has been a staple on the metro St. Louis poetry scene for many years. The southern Illinois native has organized, promoted, hosted, and participated in dozens of readings and performances on both sides of the river. A former member of the Dr. Eugene B. Redmond Writer’s Club, Spitfire hosted the open mic night at Cigar Inn in Belleville for the entirety of it’s 2-year run. She is also the founder of both the “First Bloom” and “Women for Peace” reading series in St. Louis. Spitfire has been the St. Louis organizer for 100,000 poets for change, and has coordinated poetry performances for St. Louis Fringe Fest among others. Rounding out the list of performers will be Lenny Smith and the K-Word teen poets. Lenny Smith has been a central figure in the Soulard Culture Squad since its origins in the 1980’s. Though he claims organization eludes him, he has organized many Soulard literary events over the years. The K-Word teen poets are the 2015 Verbquake high school poetry slam champions. The K-Word slam team is comprised of students from Kirkwood High School. The team recently won its second straight title in the UrbArts hosted tournament. The win gave the team the opportunity to compete in the Brave New Voices national poetry slam this summer in Atlanta, Georgia. The team is coached by St. Louis National Poetry Slam team member Freeman Word, a Washington University student.

The event will be co-hosted by spoken word poet and teaching artist Pacia Elaine, and is free and open to the public.

All ages are welcome.

pg. 184

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

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.

ASK US ABOUT APPRENTICESHIP AND JOURNEYMEN TRAINING!

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

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.

BUILD SOMETHING AMAZING Check Out the Boeing Pre-Employment Training Program!

This 10 week training program takes place at the Center for Workforce Innovation at St. Louis Community College’s Florissant Valley Campus.

FREE tuition if accepted into program!

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

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.

Skills and qualifications needed to be considered: • Must pass WorkKeys Assessment Tests (applied math, locating information, reading for information, and observation) • Must be mechanically inclined To apply, email resume to wcdassemblymechanics@stlcc.edu or FAX to (314) 513-4604. For more information and schedule call (314) 539-5921.

Upon program completion, participants are eligible to interview for positions with Boeing.

pg. 188

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

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.

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.

Copyright © 2015 - All rights reserved.

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.

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015

pg. 190

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Volume 2.3 May 7, 2015