Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/30/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Don't you wish you could take a single childhood memory and blow it up into a bubble and live inside it forever?”
― Sarah Addison Allen

Berkeley Times --- OPEN CALL for poems

LET IT BE KNOWN: Berkeley Times is dedicating its August 11 edition to poetry. Call it the “Poetry Edition.” Thus, in the spirit of the wonderful diversity of Berkeley, poems of all sorts are welcome. Instructions for submissions are printed below.

Again, we are open to all sorts of poems from all sorts of poets (not just those who write in English), but please know that long poems (300 words and up) are not appropriate for this edition.

The theme is purposefully vague, but in addition to poems about Berkeley and those who make this community what it is, we’d love to see poems about opportunity and/or open spaces.

All submissions are due by Monday, July 11 at 11:59 p.m.
Instructions for submissions

For all submissions, please include the following information:
1. Name of the poet (first and last)
2. Neighborhood of residence
3. Phone number, email address
4. A sentence or two describing your accomplishments and connection to this community

Please submit entries as raw text in the body of an email, and send it to arts@berkeleyx.org (NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE). Note that highly formatted poems do not reproduce well in newsprint, so choose your poems accordingly.
Alternatively, one may submit typed poems via USPS to Berkeley Times, P.O. Box 559, Berkeley, CA 94701.

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/29/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Like some wines our love could neither mature nor travel.”
― Graham Greene

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/28/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“If you want to find the trail, if you want to find yourself, you must explore your dreams alone. You must grow at a slow pace in a dark cocoon of loneliness so you can fly like wind, like wings, when you awaken.” -― Francesca Lia Block

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/27/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” -― Martin Luther King Jr.

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/24/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“When life is foggy, path is unclear and mind is dull, remember your breath. It has the power to give you the peace. It has the power to resolve the unsolved equations of life.” -― Amit Ray

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/23/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away.” -― Sarah Kay

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning.” -― Criss Jami

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/21/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“The key to a wonderful life is to never stop wandering into wonder.” -― Suzy Kassem

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/20/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Like a butterfly stuck in a chrysalis, waiting for the perfect moment, I was waiting for the day I could burst forth and fly away and find my home.” -― Emme Rollins

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/17/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“They say that none of us exists, except in the imagination of his fellows, other than as an intangible, invisible mentality.” -― Edgar Rice Burroughs

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/16/16 (Soweto Uprising 40th Anniversary)

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

"Unite! Mobilise! Fight on! Between the anvil of united mass action and the hammer of the armed struggle we shall crush Apartheid!

RACISTS RULE BY THE GUN!

The gun has played an important part in our history. The resistance of the black man to white colonial intrusion was crushed by the gun. Our struggle to liberate ourselves from white domination is held in check by force of arms. From conquest to the present the story is the same. Successive white regimes have repeatedly massacred unarmed defenceless blacks. And wherever and whenever they have pulled out their guns the ferocity of their fire has been trained on the African people.

Apartheid is the embodiment of the racialism, repression and inhumanity of all previous white supremacist regimes. To see the real face of apartheid we must look beneath the veil of constitutional formulas, deceptive phrases and playing with words.

The rattle of gunfire and the rumbling of Hippo armoured vehicles since June 1976 have once again torn aside that veil. Spread across the face of our country, in black townships, the racist army and police have been pouring a hail of bullets killing and maiming hundreds of black men, women and children. The toll of the dead and injured already surpasses that of all past massacres carried out by this regime.

Apartheid is the rule of the gun and the hangman. The Hippo, the FN rifle and the gallows are its true symbols. These remain the easiest resort, the ever ready solution of the race-mad rulers of South Africa.

VAGUE PROMISES, GREATER REPRESSION . . .

In the midst of the present crisis, while our people count the dead and nurse the injured, they ask themselves: what lies ahead?

From our rulers we can expect nothing. They are the ones who give orders to the soldier crouching over his rifle: theirs is the spirit that moves the finger that caresses the trigger.

Vague promises, tinkerings with the machinery of apartheid, constitution juggling, massive arrests and detentions side by side with renewed overtures aimed at weakening and forestalling the unity of us blacks and dividing the forces of change - these are the fixed paths along which they will move. For they are neither capable nor willing to heed the verdict of the masses of our people.

THE VERDICT OF JUNE 16!

That verdict is loud and clear: apartheid has failed. Our people remain unequivocal in its rejection. The young and the old, parent and child, all reject it. At the forefront of this 1976/77 wave of unrest were our students and youth. They come from the universities, high schools and even primary schools. They are a generation whose whole education has been under the diabolical design of the racists to poison the minds and brainwash our children into docile subjects of apartheid rule. But after more than twenty years of Bantu Education the circle is closed and nothing demonstrates the utter bankruptcy of apartheid as the revolt of our youth.

The evils, the cruelty and the inhumanity of apartheid have been there from its inception. And all blacks - Africans, Coloureds and Indians - have opposed it all along the line. What is now unmistakable, what the current wave of unrest has sharply highlighted, is this: that despite all the window-dressing and smooth talk, apartheid has become intolerable.

This awareness reaches over and beyond the particulars of our enslavement. The measure of this truth is the recognition by our people that under apartheid our lives, individually and collectively, count for nothing.

UNITE !

We face an enemy that is deep rooted, an enemy entrenched and determined not to yield. Our march to freedom is long and difficult. But both within and beyond our borders the prospects of victory grow bright.

The first condition for victory is black unity. Every effort to divide the blacks, to woo and pit one black group against another, must be vigorously repulsed. Our people - African, Coloured, Indian and democratic whites - must be united into a single massive and solid wall of resistance, of united mass action.

Our struggle is growing sharper. This is not the time for the luxury of division and disunity. At all levels and in every walk of life we must close ranks. Within the ranks of the people differences must be submerged to the achievement of a single goal - the complete overthrow of apartheid and racist domination.

VICTORY IS CERTAIN !

The revulsion of the world against apartheid is growing and the frontiers of white supremacy are shrinking. Mozambique and Angola are free and the war of liberation gathers force in Namibia and Zimbabwe. The soil of our country is destined to be the scene of the fiercest fight and the sharpest battles to rid our continent of the last vestiges of white minority rule.

The world is on our side. The OAU, the UN and the anti-apartheid movement continue to put pressure on the racist rulers of our country. Every effort to isolate South Africa adds strength to our struggle.

At all levels of our struggle, within and outside the country, much has been achieved and much remains to be done. But victor~ is certain!

WE SALUTE ALL OF YOU!

We who are confined within the grey walls of the Pretoria regime's prisons reach out to our people. With you we count those who have perished by means of the gun and the hangman's rope. We salute all of you - the living, the injured and the dead. For you have dared to rise up against the tyrant's might.

Even as we bow at their graves we remember this: the dead live on as martyrs in our hearts and minds, a reproach to our disunity and the host of shortcomings that accompany divisions among the oppressed, a spur to our efforts to close ranks, and a reminder that the freedom of our people is yet to be won.

We face the future with confidence. For the guns that serve apartheid cannot render it unconquerable. Those who live by the gun shall perish by the gun.

UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON!

Between the anvil of united mass action and the hammer of the armed struggle we shall crush apartheid and white minority racist rule.

AMANDLA NGAWETHU! MATLA KE A RONA!" -- Nelson Mandela

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/15/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“The best times we’ve had on earth are usually with those we love.” -― Van Harden

Fresh Meat Festival 2016

FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL 2016

15th ANNIVERSARY TRANSGENDER AND QUEER PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL

Dates:
Thursday-Saturday June 16-18, 2016
*ASL interpretation provided Fri June 17 *
* GALA! 15th Anniversary Gala Performance & Reception Sat June 18 *

Times:
All shows at 8pm

Venue:
Z Space
450 Florida Street (between 17th Street and Mariposa, San Francisco) [Map]

Tickets:
$15+ sliding scale
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Info:
www.freshmeatproductions.org

Join us as we celebrate 15 YEARS of transforming culture, empowering audiences, award-winning transgender and queer artistry, fighting for justice, and building community … Join us for the 15th Anniversary FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL!

Transgender opera stars, North America’s same-sex ballroom champions, a gender-bending boy band, trans modern dance, gay hula, voguing, queer bachata dance and more hit the stage at the 15th Anniversary FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL of transgender and queer performance. The FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL is the only event of its kind in the US, and is celebrated for its world-class artistry and sold-out crowds.



FRIDAY: ASL interpretation — let us know you’re coming! production@freshmeatproductions.org
SATURDAY: 15th Anniversary GALA Performance & Reception!
ALL NIGHTS: Post-show receptions every night with DJ, go-go dancers, photo booth, drinks & dancing!



PERFORMANCES BY:

Award-winning mixed-abilities dance by AXIS Dance Company
Soul-stirring opera by Breanna Sinclairé
Powerful wordsmith mestiza Elena Rose
Queer circus by India Davis (Topsy Turvy Queer Circus)
Queer bachata by champions Jahaira Fajardo & Angelica Medina
Vogue & performance superstars Jocquese Whitfield & Saturn Rising
Revolutionary storytelling & theater by Karen Anzoategui
World-class hula by Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu
Same-Sex Ballroom champions Robbie Tristan & Ernesto Palma
Trans/queer trailblazers Sean Dorsey Dance
Stunning trans-Americana singer-songwriter Shawna Virago
Powerful song siren Star Amerasu
Transgender folk-hearthrob StormMiguel Florez
Gender-bending boy band The Singing Bois
…and emcee Annalise Ophelian!

Opening Night

AXIS Dance Company
Breanna Sinclairé
Elena Rose
India Davis
Jahaira Fajardo & Angelica Medina
Jocquese Whitfield & Saturn Rising
Karen Anzoategui
Robbie Tristan & Ernesto Palma
Sean Dorsey Dance
Shawna Virago
Star Amerasu
StormMiguel Florez

FRI JUNE 17

ASL interpretation

AXIS Dance Company
Breanna Sinclairé
Elena Rose
Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu
Jahaira Fajardo & Angelica Medina
Jocquese Whitfield & Saturn Rising
Karen Anzoategui
Robbie Tristan & Ernesto Palma
Sean Dorsey Dance
Shawna Virago
Star Amerasu
StormMiguel Florez

SAT JUNE 18

15th Anniversary Gala

AXIS Dance Company
Breanna Sinclairé
Elena Rose
India Davis
Jahaira Fajardo & Angelica Medina
Jocquese Whitfield & Saturn Rising
Karen Anzoategui
Robbie Tristan & Ernesto Palma
Sean Dorsey Dance
Shawna Virago
Star Amerasu
The Singing Bois



15th Anniversary FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL Community Partners:
Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center (LYRIC), Openhouse, Shanti Project, TRANS: THRIVE, Community United Against Violence, San Francisco Women Against Rape, Trans Employment Program, Good Vibrations, TGI Justice Project, and Bad Flower Productions!



The FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL is a proud part of the 2016 National Queer Arts Festival! Read more about the Queer Cultural Center’s National Queer Arts Festival here….



ACCESS NOTES:
Z Space is a wheelchair accessible theater. Seating is provided on floor level for people using wheelchairs & scooters, as well as anyone who cannot climb stairs (there are stairs starting at row 2 to the back of the theater). Tickets are general seating: accessible seating will always be made available upon request at the door — it’s also super helpful if you’d like to RSVP ahead of time to production@freshmeatproductions.org

Bathrooms are wheelchair accessible and will be welcoming to all genders.

Friday June 17 performance will be ASL interpreted by Azora Telford; reserved ASL seating will be available. If you have questions or would like to request ASL reserved seating Friday June 17, please email: production@freshmeatproductions.org.

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/14/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Shards of glass can cut and wound or magnify a vision. Mosaic celebrates brokenness and the beauty of being brought together” -― Terry Tempest Williams

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/13/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

"This is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country," -- Barack Obama

People Of Color Yoga Class

People Of Color Yoga Class

The People of Color (POC) Yoga class is a gentle/moderate hatha yoga class offered to create a safe space for people of color in a community of those practicing yoga. Open to all levels, this class aims to support you in building strength and flexibility and encouraging greater openness and ease in your practice.

Tuesdays 7:30-8:45pm

Taught by
Ainka Fulani

Niroga Yoga Studio at Yogalayam
1717 Alcatraz Ave
Berkeley, CA 94703
(510) 704-1330
www.nirogacenter.org/
studio@niroga.org

LGBTQIA Yoga

LGBTQIA Yoga

Thursday's 7:30 - 8:45pm

People of all sexual orientations, gender identities, shapes, and sizes are invited to the mat

Come As You Are!!

Sliding Scale Fee

Taught by
Laura
Malouf-Renning

1717 Alcatraz Avenue
Berkeley, CA

www.nirogacenter.org
studio@niroga.org

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/10/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Maybe I hold on for too long, but maybe you don’t hold on for long enough?” -― Dominic Riccitello

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/09/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:


"My brothers used to call me Bob. They'd laugh at me, and I didn't get it. I'm 13 years old at the time, and then one day my brother's friend says, 'You know what Bob stands for? 'Booty on back.' You're fat.' Like my butt was so big I could reach for my wallet over my shoulder. And I broke down." -- Michael Strahan

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/08/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

"Anytime you're blessed to be aboard a vessel that facilitates education of world dance to the mass public, that's a victory to me." -- Lil C

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/07/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

"In my view, the best gift is one that benefits both the receiver and the planet." -- Andrew Weil

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/06/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“Everything comes at the right time, but if the right time is too late to be patient, go earlier before it becomes too late.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/02/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“I don’t want anyone to hold back who they are. It’s not okay… it’s not a good thing” -― Connor Franta

Song Of The Day.... & Daily Reflection 06/01/16

Song Of The Day....

Today's Reflection:

“you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” -― Stephen King