This is just a space where I will share some of my thoughts and post some announcements. If you stumble upon here and find something interesting and enlightening please feel free to comment...
I got my Contributor's Copy of, "Mighty Real" yesterday. I have an essay in it titled, 'Let The Healing Begin." After opening I ran my fingers across the covers and just held it close to me trying to absorb all the words through my pores. From The Harlem Renaissance through 60's Revolution. On the shoulders of Richard Bruce Nugent, James Baldwin, Assato Saint, Audre Lorde, Nella Larsen, Essex Hemphill, Joseph Beam, and many many others we stand in this new collection....and AIN'T WE FIERCE!!
I began reading some of the other contributions by friends and others I know and had it reminded me how talented they are. Sometimes I forget because they are my friend but I was definitely in the presence of artistic brilliance.
There are some writers I don't know personally and others I have recently become acquainted with in that grand scheme of social networking called, "facebook" but I am looking forward to taking a few days of being with myself and just reading what is we have contributed to our community as griots and gatekeepers.
This extensive collection includes poetry, short stories, plays, essays, sermons, & interviews. Edited by Royce Bryant Smith & Darius Omar Williams I know it has been a long process of conception and birth and I personally am grateful to, "be in the number." Both Darius and Royce deserve our thanks and congratulations for a job not just well done but one that goes over and above.
Please do yourself a favor and add this to your personal library and suggest it to friends near and far. If you are a celebrant of Kwanzaa it would make a great zawadi. You may not receive it by Jan 1st the day gifts are exchanged but in the spirit of Kwanzaa this is a gift that will uplift and illuminate.
Mighty Real is available on lulu.com, barnesandnoble.com, and amazon.com
When I was in college all the clubs, organizations, and fraternities used to have a contest to see who could donate the most blood each semester. It was one of the most popular events throughout the year. There was fierce competition not just so we could get extra many for our groups but because we knew donating blood was a great way to help other people in crisis.
A dear friend and colleague Stephanie Nawyn who is now an Associate Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University, and was a great help to me when I coordinated the Lorde-Baldwin Learning Tree a literacy program at Unity Fellowship Church in Los Angeles (I remember when she had her first child Henry and he would sit on my lap and try and put the tips of my locs in his mouth)
Time flies, Henry is now riding his bike to school and has a sister Meredeth who I have yet to meet.
Enough of the memory lane. Some of Stephanie's students have posted an excellent video on youtube about the ban on Same Gender Loving/Men Who Have Sex With Men being able to donate blood. They offer great insight & information about why the ban was put into place originally and the reasons it should be overturned.
Support comes from Senator John Kerry as well as others and they give you address and information on how to contact the FDA if you'd like to send a letter on how to overturn the ban and also to Go To Helen Weytt ("Hell & Wait") if you'd like to support the current ban. All this from their own Fox-E News Special Report....
It hurts me deeply that I am no longer allowed to donate blood and I know it could help save lives. Please view this and take action....
The Global Justice Institute, GLAAD, GLO TV Network, GayByGod.net, The Fellowship, MCC New York, Rehoboth Temple
Media Contact : Joseph Tolton, Blur Advertising 646-765-6960 jtolton@blur-advertising.com
African Americans protest Bahati’s US tour to promote “kill the gays” in Uganda
WHAT: Emergency Town Hall Meeting to challenge Ugandan PM David Bahati who is currently promoting his “kill the gays” bill on a trip to the United States
WHEN: Saturday, December 11, 2010
1:00 p.m. (SHARP)
WHO: Pastor Joseph W. Tolton - Rehoboth Temple/The Global Justice Institute Bishop Zachary Jones - Unity Fellowship Church/Brooklyn Rev Pat Bumgardner - MCC/The Global Justice Institute Dr. Marjorie Hill - GMHC Tokes Osubu - GMAD
WHERE: Rehoboth Temple Christ Conscious Church
310 West 139th Street, New York, NY 10031
(Fredrick Douglass & Edgecombe)
WHY: LGBT People of African Descent and our allies, family and friends are responding to the immediate attack on our fellow brother and sisters in the country of Uganda. The conservative Christian right organization known as The Family and so-called “ex-gay” activist Scott lively exported hatred to Africa with a direct threat to the LGBT community in Uganda by funding and sponsoring the “Anti-Homosexuality” bill which would introduce the death penalty for gay people and require extradition of gay Ugandans around the world.
LGBT communities of color in the USA and across the globe are at greater risk for hate crimes and persecutions. Killing LGBT people in Uganda or anywhere else around the world is wrong.
I was really hoping that this musical would be able to sustain an audience and eventually tour. I first heard about it because I am a big fan of Colman Domingo. I'd seen him in, "The Big Gay Sketch Comedy Show" where among other things his Craiglist's ads as Maya Angelou and also the musical, "Passing Strange" I always thought the story of the Scottsboro Boys was an interesting time in America's history. It wasn't a story I was even aware of in school. It's not covered in many history books but it's definitely a familiar story if you have roots in the south. Because of the death of Fred Ebb this was to be the last collaboration for Kander & Ebb who wrote such musicals as Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Chicago, The Rink, and others. With their use of dark material as a source for musical theater and the addition of Susan Strohman I really thought this show would have a long run. But it is closing this Sunday December 12. The soundtrack which includes one of my new favorite songs, "Go Back Home" is available on-line at amazon.com and cduniverse.com
Mighty Real: An Anthology of African American Same Gender Loving Writing By Edited by R. Bryant Smith and Darius Omar Williams
A collection of African-American Same Gender Loving Literature featuring both new and established writers. Grounded in a poignant and truthful sensibility, imbued with the realities of sex and love, Smith and Williams present a culmination of poems, short stories, radical essays, sermons, plays and interviews honoring notable figures within the SGLBT community.
I was planning to go see, "For Colored Girls" this weekend until I read the opinions of a few people I really respect for their thoughts on things artistic. I should say I am not a Tyler Perry fan. I don't think I ever will be. I think the best thing he ever did was produce, "Precious" so it would get a bigger audience. I was hoping that would be the situation with, "For Colored Girls" but I learned he directed I was still going to see it because of my love for the original work. I've decided I'm still going to see it just for the opportunity to hear Ntozake Shange's words performed by some of my favorite actresses like Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Kerri Washington, Thandie Newton, and others. What I've decided to do though is order the dvd of a production that starred Alfre Woodard, Lynn Whitfield, Carol Malliard (of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Shange, and the theme song sung by Patti Labelle and watch it after I see the film.
What has struck me the most is the vitriolic response not so much to the film but to Tyler Perry. As I said I am not a fan of his work but whatever my personal feelings toward that I try and stay away from personal attacks on him. I have my own reasons for why I don't like his work but some of the things that I have read from others really border on being mean spirited. If you don't like someone's work that's one thing but to attack their character and not know them (and seeing them on interviews is not knowing them, that's only a glimpse of them) is not good reporting to me. I have made my peace with going to see this work and am looking forward to whatever happens having a good experience.
I began hearing about a new musical, "Scottsboro Boys" by Kander & Ebb earlier this year because I had become "friends" with Colman Domingo on facebook. I saw him first on the, "Big Gay Comedy Sketch Show" on the logo network. The show itself has some really great moments and some not so great but a guilty pleasure of mine is him reading craigslist posting as Maya Angelou....
When he looks to the heavens after reading the postings which I suspect are real text I just lose it. I then saw him on PBS with the broadway production of, "Passing Strange." An incredible show that I think everyone should get on dvd. Currently Scottsboro Boys has moved to Broadway and I really hope it does well enough to tour. I haven't admitted this publicly to many people but I have started playing piano again and I would love to learn this song.
It sounds so touching and beautiful. I even suggested it to a great friend of mine Haqumai Sharpe as something he should add to his repertoire. The show is based on the notorious case of the Scottsboro Boys who were accused of raping two white women on a train passing through Scottsboro, Alabama. Told in the minstrel form it should be an interesting take on a night in musical theater. Leave it to Kander & Ebb to come up with a way to share another "dark" story. Susan Stroman directs and choreographs and from what I've seen and heard adds some incredibly subtle moments to the production.
Drumroll Please......
My Book, "Touch...Poems & Other Writings of Love, Erotica, & Sensuality" is finally coming out. I've created a page on facebook if you'd like to be among the first to know when and where to get it. Thanks to all who have supported me on this journey. As most of us creative types know Art Isn't Easy. You can plan but then life shows up and takes away your plans and ideas of what you want to happen but I can tell you honestly everything about this project is in divine order. My friend Anthony Batiste used his considerable talents to design the covers and the models and photographers who let me use their work have been especially supportive. Take a look!! I am blown away but what we created!!!
I'm also pleased to announce a piece I wrote called, "Let The Healing Begin" will be included in anthology due out soon called, "Mighty Real" edited by Darius Omar Williams & Royce Bryant Smith. I originally wrote the piece as a speech given at the National Convocation of the Unity Fellowship Movement. I really enjoyed it and didn't know what to do with it and ended up submitted it to this anthology. I am very honored to be a part of the collection and looking forward to its debut.
The Shubutanis A Young Ice Dancing Pair The Lakers New Championship Rings The Lakers New Championship Jackets (Gotta See If They Got 'Em In Big Boy Size)
