The Passage Project

Notes From the Diaspora, 2/13: Fair Trade Flowers for your Valentine; War Child Presents Heroes; Miles & Coltrane at Jazz at Lincoln Center

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora and beyond.

Flower/Shopping
Worldwide

 
Image courtesy of Fair Trade Certified Flowers. 

How does fair trade for Valentine's Day sound to you? Well, I love the idea and am trying to spread the love. To send fair trade flowers for the big day, visit the website of Fair Trade Certified Flowers. Their site will tell you where to by them in your area. You'll be surprised to learn how easy it is to do some fair trade shopping in your neighborhood. Their clients include FTD, Whole Foods, 1-800 Flowers and Sam's Club.

Music
Worldwide

 

The benefit album War Child presents Heroes is coming soon to an iPod near you. War Child is an organization that works with children who are victims of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Uganda. The album includes music legends such as Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, U2, Leonard Cohen and David Bowie as well as newer artists such as TV on the Radio, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Peaches, Estelle, Duffy and Scissor Sisters. The album will be released internationally February 16th.

Jazz at Lincoln Center logo courtesy of their website.

Music
New York City

Jazz at Lincoln Center presents Miles and Coltrane through February 14. The program marks the 50th anniversary of the albums Kind of Blue and Giant Steps. Jimmy Cobb, who performed on both albums, Take 6, saxophonists Ted Nash, Walter Blanding and Sherman Irby will be performing original and new arrangements. Performances will feature a pre-concert lecture beginning at 7pm in the Irene Diamond Education Center.

Notes From the Diaspora, 1/30: Urwintore's The Investigation; Tibet House Benefit Concert; Boston African Film Festival

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora and beyond.

 

Image courtesy of Urwintore's website.

Theater
Montclair, NJ

It's been a long time coming. The Rwandan theater company Urwintore has brought their production of The Investigation by Peter Weiss to the United States and I've been waiting for the chance to see this production for myself for sometime now.  Originally produced in 1965, the play is based on transcripts from Frankfurt's war crimes trials of German citizens who worked at Auschwitz during WWII. Urwintore's production has been adapted by Jean Beaudrillard, conceived and directed by Dorcy Rugamba and Isabelle Gyselinx.

 

Image of Darcy  Rugamba courtesy of Thisislondon.co.uk.

Urwindtore's production was first performed in Rwanda in 2005 and later performed in London in 2007.
After wrapping up performances in Chicago last week, Urwintore brings their production to the Alexander Kasser Theater in Montclair, New Jersey February 5 - 9. The production will be performed in Kinyarwanda with English super titles.

Music
New York City

Image of musician Angelique Kidjo courtesy of Afropop.com.

Carnegie Hall will play host to the 19th Annual Tibet House Benefit Concert Tuesday, February 3rd at 7:30pm. Performers include Philip Glass, Antibalas, Steve Earle, Keb' Mo', Angelique Kidjo and Monks from India's Drepung Gomang Monastery.  The concert as been held at Carnegie Hall since 1993. Other guests are expected to be announced soon.

Film
Boston
The Boston African FIlm Festival will be taking place February 6 - 15 at The Museum of Fine Arts. This year's screenings include Cheik Doukoure's Paris Selon Moussa (Guinea/France, 2003, 96 min.) and Ngozi Onwurah's Shoot the Messenger (Nigeria/UK, 2006, 100 min.).

Notes From the Diaspora, 1/27: Medicine for Melancholy, Duke Ellington Commemorative Quarter, Johannesburg Int'l Mozart Fest, and African Textiles at Kim Sacks Gallery

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

Poster from Medicine for Melancholy courtesy of Strike Anywhere Films.

Film
Across the U.S.

Medicine for Melancholy opens this Friday. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, the award winning film has been nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, and is the winner of TK at Sundance
With San Francisco as it's backdrop, the film has been described as "a love story about a one-night stand told through two African-American twenty-somethings dealing with issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority in rapidly gentrifying San Francisco- a city with the smallest proportional black population of any other major American City." Wyatt Cenac  of The Daily Show and Tracey Heggins are the films two stars.

The movie opens in NYC January 30th, Detroit February 13th, Seattle February 20th, San Francisco and Los Angeles February 27th.

Check out the official website for music from the movie, two short-films by Jenkins called My Josephine and Little Brown Boy, a fierce T-shirt and a photo contest with a $1000 prize. Also, don't forget to look at the films Facebook page for the latest information.

Money
Washington D.C.

Image courtesy of The DCist.

Jazz legend Duke Ellington will grace the flip-side of commemorative quarters representing the District of Columbia. Today, the U.S. Mint released the coin as part of their 50 state quarter program (the Duke Ellington coin is the first to be issued in 2009). The quarter reads, "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DUKE ELLINGTON and JUSTICE FOR ALL".

Ellington was born in Washington D.C. April 29, 1899 and later moved to New York in 1923.

If you would like to get your hands on these, the wait to get them at your local bank could be a few weeks. Your best bet is to order directly from the U.S. Mint at 801 9th Street NW in D.C. or it's website.

Music
Johannesburg
Johannesburg International Mozart Festival continues through February 3rd. The festival will feature South African Violinist Zoe Beyers and German pianist Florian Uhlig. A series of workshops, master-classes, lectures and community based programs are also part of the festival.

Textile images courtesy of Kim Sacks Gallery.

Art
Johannesburg
The African textile exhibition Tranformed Fibres opens at The Kim Sacks Gallery January 31st and runs through February 28th. Kente, Dida, Indigo, Fante, Yuroba, Baule, Nupe, Kuba, Fulani, Mbuti, Ewe, Hausa and Bamileke will all be represented in the show. The space is located at 153 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood (27-11/447-5804).

Notes From the Diaspora, 1/6

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

Art
Cape Town
The Association for Visaual Arts (AVA) will be opening three solo exhibitions Monday, January 19th with Lindile Magunya's Disgrace, Mawande Zenzile's Crawling Nation, and Kilmany-Jo Liversage's Symbol of Tribute through February 6th.

Artwork by Mawande Zenzile courtesy of AVA.

From the artist statement of Zenzile:
“I have experimented with the revival of Xhosa ‘art’ production, positioning myself and examining this culture in contemporary ways of art production inside Africa. In my work I challenge expectations, perception and misconception behind blackness and consciousness; through this I interrogate, history itself, subcultures, space, and time."

Image courtesy of Girls Write Now.

Literature
New York
Girls Write Now is spreading the word about the upcoming submission deadline for The Scholastic Art and Writing Award by The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers January 13th. I've attended a reading organized by the Girls Write Now in the past and many of it's young writers have won the scholarship. For more details about the award and the program, visit the organizations website. Good luck! 

Film
New York
Healing Starts with Us: An Open Book will be screened January 15, from 7 to 9:30 p.m at Symphony Space. The film looks at the stigma of mental illness in the Black community and features interviews with Ruby Dee, Mo'Nique, Susan L. Taylor, Terry McMillian, among others. Author Terrie M. Williams will be there to discuss the topic with the audience and all those in attendance will receive a copy of her book Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting (2008).  Tickets are $25.

Notes From the Diaspora, 12/10: Human Rights Day, Tuskegee Airmen at Inauguration, Film Slingshot Hip Hop

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

Politics
World

Today is Human Rights Day and the United Nation's has scheduled a number of events to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. This morning they will be awarding The United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights to Louise Arbour, Ramsey Clark, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, Dr. Denis Mukwege and Human Rights Watch. There will also be a panel discussion titled “Reclaiming The Vision: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Today”  with Prof. Philip Alston, Larry Cox, Michael Ratner, and Prof. Patricia Williams.  

Want more? International human right's champion Amnesty International is organizing the 2008 Global Write-a-thon December 5-14 to mark the occasion. From their website: Write letters on behalf of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders at risk of severe human rights violations.

Visit Amnesty's website to read a Q&A about the program and to learn about event supporter musician Serj Tankian of the band System of a Down.

Washington D.C.

Surviving members of World War II's Tuskegee Airmen have been invited to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama January 20th. The troop included elite pilots, flight instructors, navigators, radio technicians, air traffic controllers and other grounds crewmen. 

 

Troops being briefed in 1945. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

They were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on March 29, 2007 by President George Bush. Their other honors include Distinguished Honor Crosses, Legions of Merit, Purple Hearts, Silver Stars, the Croix de Guerre and the Red Star of Yugoslavia.

From 1942 to 1946, the all black air troop trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama and Moton Field at the Tuskegee Institute. To visit The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Moton Field, visit the offical website of the National Park Service.

  
Dr. Roscoe Brown Jr. receives Congressional Gold Medal from President Bush.

  Image courtesy of the Slingshot Hip Hop website.

Film
Dubai

Award-winning documentary Slingshot Hip-Hop, directed by Jackie Reem Salloum, will be screening in Dubai at the DMC Ampitheater December 12th at 8 p.m. After the screening there will be live performances by DAM, PR (The Palestinian Rappers), Fredwreck and the Narcicyst.

The film tells the stories of several young men and woman living in Palestine who are using hip-hop to explore the everyday lives, politics and hardships of their communities in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.  To see the trailer or to purchase the film's recently released soundtrack and t-shirts, please visit the official website.

Slingshot Hip Hop will also be screened in New York City January 7th. Details coming soon.

Notes From the Diaspora, 10/20

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

Image coutesy of American University's Center for Social Media.

Film
Washington D.C.

The Human Rights Film Series continues through November 14 at Wechler Theater at American University. Films include one of my personal favorites  Banished  Marco Williams (2007).There will also be a special week-long event called Three Years After Katrina, with screenings of Spike Lee's When the Levee's Broke (2006) and Broderick Webb and Edward Holub's short film Cut Off (2008).

Sports
Johannesburg, South Africa

O.K., all you athletes out there. Sunday, November 2 is the Nedbank Soweto Marathon, or the "People Race" to those in the know. Now in it's 17th year, the marathon begins and ends in Moroka's Elkah Stadium and runners will travel through Soweto's landmarks as well as new development projects in the area.

Over 27,000 people participated in last years race and more are expected this year. So, if you are up for the challenge and want to signup for the marathon, go to the Athletics South Africa website or the site for Nedbank. Registration ends on October 27 (though organziers will be allowing late registration up to the day of the race).

Internet and Technology
Tunisia

Bloggers throughout Tunisia are pushing for a National Day for Blogging  on November 4th according to the and article written by Jamel Arfaoui on the website Maghrebia. It's goal is to defend freedom of expression and fight against censorship. Why November 4th? Tunisian journalist Zied El Heni's filed a complaint against the Tunisian Internet Agency for blocking Facebook in Tunisia and his case will be going to court on that date.  The government has banned several blogs and the availability of Facebook has been erratic over the past few months.

A Facebook page has been created to support the censorhip cause called Tous solidaires: Non a La Fermeture De facebook En Tunisie.

Music
International

 

The nominations for the first MTV Africa Music Awards was announced October 8 and Nigerian R & B artists P-Square led in nominations with five, and are followed by D'Banj of Nigeria and South Africa's HHP with 3 each. Nigeria's Asa was nominated for Best Female Artist and Artist of the Year (some have dubbed her Nigeria's Corrine Bailey Rae).

 

Image of Asa courtesy of her website. 

The awards ceremony will be held November 22 at the The Velodrome in Abuja, Nigeria. To see the complete of nominee's, go to MTV Base Africa.

Notes From the Diaspora, 9/19

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

Activism
Haiti

Image by Ramon Espinoza of Wyclef Jean and Matt Damon courtesy of Associated Press. 

Earlier this week, musician Wyclef Jean was joined by actor Matt Damon in Gonaïves, Haiti. The city was one of several areas devastated by Hurricane's Hannah and Ike. The two artists are trying to draw attention to the region and raise funds to provide food, water, medial supplies and temporary shelter to those impacted by the recent storms.

Wyclef is the founder of Yéle Haiti, a charity focusing on the needs of people living in Haiti. The organization is working with the World Food Program and the Pan-American Development Foundation to provide support for hurricane victims.

To see a video of their visit from ABC news, go here. To see a video from Yéle Haiti's Storm Relief Fund, visit yele.org. 

Politics
Brazil

 

Image of Claudio Henrique dos Anjos courtesy of the Associated Press. 

Hoping to ride the international wave of Obama-mania, politicians are using Sen. Barack Obama's name on the ballots in at least eight local elections in Brazil. 

Bradley Brooks from the Associated Press spoke to several Brazilian politicians about how Obama has influenced Brazilian politics. Outside of Rio de Janiero in Belford Roxo, mayoral candidate Claudio Henrique dos Anjos has noticed a dramatic change during his run for office after he began using the name Barack Obama del Belford Roxo. He has said that he has gone from third place to a tie for first place, according to local polls. 

"He influences us not only because he's the first black candidate, but because he fought for his dream, believed in his dream and defeated the odds," dos Anjos said. "This attitude is contagious both in Brazil and the world at large."

Brazil has the largest black population outside the continent of Africa. 

To read more about this story from Bradley Brooks from the AP, go here. 

Notes From the Diaspora, 9/11

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

September 11th Tribute
New York City

Senator's Barack Obama and John McCain will be speaking tonight at 7 pm at Columbia University's Alfred Lerner Hall on the topic of service and civic engagement. This is one of the many events taking place today remembering September 11, 2001.

Art
New York
Lorraine O'Grady's Miscegenated Family Album opened last night at the Chelsea art Gallery Alexander Gray Associates. The exhibition has also been shown at The Art Institute of Chicago, the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT; and the Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Denmark. Earlier this year O'Grady posted on her blog that The Art Institute of Chicago "voted to purchase edition number 1/4 of the full Miscegenated Family Album". It will be installed in May of 2009 when the museum completes its new contemporary art wing. Congratulations Lorraine!

O'Grady's work was also featured earlier this year in WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution at MOMA's P.S.1. 

The show will be running through October 11, 2008.

Literature
New York
The Brooklyn Book Festival, one of the country's leading literary events, takes place this coming Sunday, September 14th, at Brooklyn Bourough Hall and Plaza from 10 am to 6 pm. This free event will feature panel discussions with a long list of authors including Elizabeth Nunez, Jonathan Lethem, Nathan Englander, Jonathan Franzen, Pete Hamill, A.M. Homes, Jessica Hagerdorn, Kevin Powell and Naomi Wolf. Workshop topics include Dreams Deferred: Identity and Struggle in Contemporary Fiction, Top-Shelf Fiction, and Race for 2008: Perspectives on the Presidential Campaign.

The event will also feature children's programs and a stage for live proformances.

Festival
San Francisco
Experience on the Green: Music, Art, Wine and Cuisine happens this Saturday, September 13th from 2 pm to 7 pm. Presented by The Erroll Jackson Company and Codeblacktv.com, the event will be taking place at the Oakland Museum in the Great Court Garden and will feature performances by several artists including Robert Flack. Members of The Museum of the African Diaspora will receive a discount.

Notes From the Diaspora, 8/15

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

 

Image from Tart's runway show at Cape Town Fashion Week from Wire Image.

Fashion
Cape Town
Virgin Mobile Cape Town Fashion Week continues through Saturday at the Cape Town International Convention Center. Organized by the Cape Town Fashion Council, labels such as Lalesso, Goat, Doreen Southwood, Gavin Rajah, Tart, and Freshwear are previewing their Spring/Summer collections.

To see a video of Peacemaker Hliso, creative director of Goat Clothing, discuss his labels appearance on the catwalk and more glimpses from the runway, go here. To see more images from Cape Town Fashion Week captured by Wire Image, go here. 

Image of Lalesso dress from Cape Town Fashion Week from Wire Image.

Bailey's Fashion Weekend will be joining in on the fun this Saturday and Sunday at The Runway for two days of discount shopping featuring the hottest South African designers. This shopping event at reduced prices will not sacrifice comfort or ambiance. The chill setting will feature several D.J.'s setting the mood and Bailey's on ice on hand. The event even has it's own Facebook page. If you thought the event couldn't get even better, wait. All proceeds will be donated to UNICEF. 

Bringing South Africa's leading and emerging designers to the public at affordable prices is a brilliant way to celebrate Cape Town Fashion Week. 

The Runway
1st Floor Fairweather House
176 Sir Lowry Road
Woodstock
Cape Town

Festivals
Twin Cities, MN
Afrifest 2008 concludes this Sunday as the festival continues it's tradition of bringing a diverse selection of music, fashion, food and culture to the Twin Cities with a theme of “Enlightenment, Diversity, and Unity.” The profits from the event will be distributed to several non-profit organizations in the area.

 

Notting Hill Carnival logo courtesy of the official website.

London
Are you ready for Notting Hill's Carnival next week? The largest Carnival celebration in Europe takes place next weekend, August 23-25, so rest up. Time Out London also has a guide to prepare you for the festivities and Norman Jay will provide a podcast of the event.

Notes from the Diaspora, 8/7

This regular section of The Passage Project is the spot to find abbreviated notes on news and events throughout the African Diaspora.

Film
New York City
The New York African Film Festival continues their summer-long outdoor screening series Summer Under the Stars this weekend. War Dance will be screening tonight at Kidflix Film Festival in Brooklyn's Fulton Park and Saturday at a series of short films will be screened at Family Day Celebration in Governor's Island from 2-6p.m.

Image from the New York African Film Festival Website.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy's film about the South Central Farmers, The Garden, open's today at Cinema Village and runs through August 14th. The director will hold a Q&A after the screenings today and tomorrow.  The film tells the story of a group of South Central L.A. residents who manage an urban farm and their fight against a real estate development plan that would put an end to years of work. The film is the winner of the Sterling Award at the Silverdocs Film Festival.

Music
London
African Reggae musician Harare Dread, also known as Pax Nindi,  performs Friday at Rich Mix. Doors open at 8:30p.m. and the show begins at 9:30p.m. Don't miss his sole London performance of the year.