Category Archives: news

Kenneth Foster Update (as of 7 p.m. Wednesday)

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

Just got the following email from Hans Bennett.

Hello Everyone,

I just got off the phone (this Wed. evening) with Walidah Imarisha, a
Philadelphia journalist/activist who is there in Texas where Kenneth Foster Jr. is set to be executed tomorrow. She told me that the Board of Pardons and Parole has put off the decision regarding Kenneth until tomorrow.

It was set to respond to the appeal today, where 5 out of the 7 members have to recommend pardon, and then Governor Rick Perry has to approve it. If the
Board denies a pardon, Perry has the power to grant a 30-day stay.

Imarisha reports that supporters of Kenneth in Texas are not quite “optimistic,” but are hoping for the best because this delay of decision means that they have been extensively talking about it and are therefore taking a long time to decide.

Imarisha will call me tomorow as soon as there is anything new, and I will keep you posted.

Hoping for the best,

Hans Bennett
Abu-Jamal-News.com

Call or fax:

Those who cannot attend these are encouraged to continue faxing and calling:
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles:
Phone (512) 406-5852
Fax (512) 467-0945

Gov. Rick Perry:
Phone (512) 463-1782
Fax (512) 463-1849

Protests

Wednesday, August 29

1:00 pm to 4pm: Gather outside the Polunsky Unit in Livingston TX for a
demonstration against the deplorable, torturous conditions of the Polunsky Unit and against the double executions of John Amador, scheduled for August 29, and Kenneth Foster, set for August 30.
Polunsky Unit: 3825 FM 350 South, Livingston Texas 77351

4pm-7pm: Protest the execution of John Amador outside the Ellis Unit.
Huntsville Unit: 815 12th Street Huntsville Texas 77340

Austin, Wednesday, August 29, 5:00 PM, Governor’s Mansion (Lavaca at 11th) RALLY AND PRESS CONFERENCE FOR KENNETH FOSTER, RESPONDING TO BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES’ RECOMMENDATION TO GOVERNOR PERRY AND IN OPPOSITION TO
THE EXECUTION OF JOSEPH AMODOUR AT 6PM.

Austin, Thursday, August 30, 5:00 PM, Governor’s Mansion (Lavaca at 11th) EXECUTION PROTEST AND VIGIL Even in the eleventh hour things could turn for Kenneth. If you can’t make it to Huntsville, come out to stand with others against the execution.

Thursday, August 30:
3pm-7pm: Protest the execution of Kenneth Foster Jr outside the Ellis Unit in Huntsville Texas. Groups from all over the state will converge to stand against this injustice and demand until the very end that the State of Texas do the right thing and stop this execution.

THIS CAMPAIGN BADLY NEEDS DONATIONS: Send donations to:

Velocity Credit Union, P.O. Box 1089, Austin, Texas 78767

Account name: To Save Kenneth
Foster

Account number: 831766.1

A Writer's Purpose

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

 

The following hit all the marks. 

I’m certain you know about Dr. Pipher’s public stand.

AMY GOODMAN: Mary Pipher, clinical psychologist and acclaimed author. I asked her to talk about her latest book, Writing to Change the World.

MARY PIPHER: You know, how Pete Seeger always said about music: it isn’t whether or not it’s good, it’s what it’s good for. And I didn’t come at writing as an academic or as a poet or a creative writer. I came at writing as a social activist, and I want every one of my books to have a very powerful effect in changing the culture. And so, I have spent a lot of time figuring out how to do it. And the way to do it is have a deeply personal voice, my own authentic voice that comes from deep within myself, and my writing and speaking voice are virtually identical. And then, the other way to do it is through stories, because you can’t argue with a story. You know, people can argue with you if you stand up and say what you believe or don’t believe, but if you tell them a story and tell them a story that opens their heart, they will change. So that’s what the book is about, is writing in a way that we can effect change.

And I talk about this idea that the point of my kind of writing is to empower the powerless, to give voice to people who have no voice, but also to educate readers in what I call the moral imagination. And that is the ability to understand the world from other people’s points of view. And that’s an extremely big problem in America right now, is people don’t have much moral imagination, so that when they talk about, say, “illegal aliens,” they don’t have a story, they don’t have a face, they don’t have a picture of a real person. They have almost no empathy with the person they’re talking about.

I remember when Sensenbrenner was talking about gaming the asylum system and how we had to go after those terrorists gaming the asylum system. At that point I had just happened to have been back to Bellevue in New York City to visit their unit for victims of torture. The people on that unit that were seeking asylum were Buddhist monks from Tibet. And I just thought, “Man, Sensenbrenner hasn’t been here. You know, he hasn’t been to Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis.”

And so, the job of the change writer, from my point of view, is to say I respect you as a reader, and I know if I tell you the truth, as I see it, having spent some time listening to people and asking them — you know, Simone Weil had that question, “What is your experience?”– asking people, “What is your experience?” which I did when I wrote Middle of Everywhere, my book on refugees. I spent three years asking people that. And it greatly enhanced my own moral imagination to listen to all those stories. You also have a good job for enhancing your moral imagination. But that’s the job of the writer: to help other people’s moral imagination grow, basically.

Pere Pascal And My Tribute To All My Meres And Peres

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pascal-and-wife.jpg

On a good day online, you make a good friend. Pascal, from France, is one.

“Meeting” at the Black Panther Message Board at least three years ago, we have swapped comic trade paperbacks across the Atlantic. I have a complete set of Christopher J. Priest’s take on the Marvel Comics superhero the Black Panther (sans the Kasper Cole storyline ) in French trade paperbacks, thanks to him. They are my prize possessions.

Anyway, he emailed me earlier today (sending me a .jpeg of his wedding picture from last year; I like that they both have glasses 🙂 ) to tell me that he and his wife are expecting a new comic geek to come forth. The end of January, he says.

My Photo

At least a couple of the couples I know are well on the way of poppin’ ’em out.  🙂   Adina’s little girl, her first, is due this December—I believe around the time my friend Jared’s wife Yari is expecting, their second.

Now, my friend Val….well, I lost count of the amount. 🙂 I think three.

So here’s my tribute to all the young meres (and peres) I know, courtesy of one of my all-time favorite artists, Basia:

*****

she’s gonna be a perfect mother,
perfect mother
in her mind there’s no doubt
though no one could show her how to be
a perfect mother, perfect mother
people say–she’s too young
should a child have a child?

hers is gonna be a perfect baby
raised according to the old prescription:
cuddle it daily and smother with kisses
’cause there’s nothing more important
just make sure that she never misses

a perfect mother, perfect mother
people say–she’s too young
no one could ever show her how

babies grow, then they tend to leave us
that’s how it’s always been and always will be
deep down inside you never stop wishing
for the hope to be certain that your
boy or girl
will be forever needing you

hers is gonna be a perfect baby
raised according to the old prescription:
cuddle it daily and smother with kisses
’cause there’s nothing more important…
who knows better–
all her life she missed her

Asante Sana, Max Roach

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

Damn.

Here’s a list of videos from youtube.

Damn.

AUG. 18 UPDATE: I got the following from Kalamu.

YOUNGBLOODS, ELDERS and FRIENDS:
 
 Legendary jazz drummer and political activist-musician Max Roach died yesterday. The funeral will be at Riverside Church in Manhattan on Friday, August 24th with services at 11 AM and viewing Max for the last time at 9 AM.  (Directions below)
 
 WKCR FM 89.9 will be playing Max Roach’s music 24 hours a day until Wednesday, August 22nd at 9 PM.   Youngbloods who haven’t heard his repertoire should take this chance to dig one of the greatest musical geniuses of the twentieth century.  
 
 One of the founders of Bebop in the 1940s Max played with Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, Bud Powell and Coleman Hawkins, among many others. Generally regarded as the greatest jazz drummer of all time, Max was a creative genius who crossed over into many other genres and integrated political activism and his commitment to African-American self determination into music that included classical jazz, bebop, African, Afro-Cuban, avant garde and some music which can only be classified as “Max Roach Music.”
 
 Max traveled to Africa to expand the scope of his music. He played with ensembles from Japan and Cuba as well as with avant-garde artists and hip-hoppers.  In the 1970s and 1980s he organized a ten piece all-percussion ensemble, performed solo drum concerts, worked with a regular jazz quartet, founded a quintet (actually a sextet) featuring only Max and five horns without any chords or bass, and Max worked on innumerable innovative collaborations with other artists and performed with women jazz instrumentalists at a time when women were generally limited to performing as vocalists in the Jazz scene.    
 
 Max  Roach’s commitment to African-American self-determination was always a integral part of his music.  In 1960, before the main thrust of the Black Power movement, Max wrote the music for the incredible “Freedom Now Suite” with lyrics by Ossie Davis and featuring the vocals of Abbey Lincoln.  Max’s militancy got him blacklisted by the major record labels and many of the white-owned clubs in the 1960’s.  However, the white music moguls could still neither his musical genius nor his commitment to Black freedom and self-determination.
 
 With Charles Mingus, Max co-founded Debut Records, one of the first artist-owned labels in music history.  Following his blacklisting Max, Mingus
and other Black musicians including Eric Dolphy, Roy Eldridge, Abbey Lincoln, Tommy Flanagan, Booker Little and Jo Jones recorded the Newport Rebels album and set up the Jazz Artists’ Guild Festival as a protest against the commercialization of the promoters who controlled the Newport Jazz Festival. 
 
Max didn’t just survive the blacklisting, he prevailed.  As long as he lived, there was no force on earth that could still Max’s voice or make him dampen his message to gain commercial acceptance. After the “Freedom Now Suite,” Max Roach continued to dedicate his music to militant opposition to racism in America and oppression of African people on the continent and in the Caribbean. 
 
 Max’s greatest legacy will always be his music.  But inextricably linked to his music will be his commitment to freedom and to his people.  In the end, the people recognized Max’s genius and defeated the attempts of the racists in the recording music industry to marginalize him. Thus, Max’s victory is a lesson and a testament to the power of the people to define our own culture. 
 
 In the spirit of self-definition, let us join the celebration of Max’s music and his life.  Google him. Read about Max, his life and his times.  And listen to the round-the- clock festival featuring Max Roach’s music on WKCR at 89.9 FM from now until Wednesday, August 22nd at 9 PM. 
 
 Max’s funeral will be on Friday, August 24th at Riverside Church in Manhattan.  Viewing will be at 9 AM.  Services at 11 AM. 
 
 Riverside Church is on 122nd Street between Riverside Drive and Claremont Avenue.  There are entrances at Claremont Avenue and on Riverside Drive.  Nearest subway stop is the #1 at 125th Street (at Broadway).  Walk south one block to Tiemann Place, turn right (West) one block to Claremont Avenue, turn left (south) one block to 122nd Street.  You can also take the M4 or the M104 to 122nd Street and Broadway or the M5 to 122nd Street and Riverside Drive. For a map,
see: http://www.tiny.cc/Riverside815 .
 
 Peace,
 Ronald B. McGuire

AUGUST 27th UPDATE: Please listen to/watch today’s “Democracy Now!” to hear excerpts of the funeral and interviews.

My Award-Winning Filmmaker Nephew

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Ah, to be a proud uncle. 🙂

—————

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    

CONTACT: HEATHER MALLOY

310-402-4801


NEW JERSEY-BASED GREEN GLASS FILMS “ALGENY” SELECTED AS HBO’S BEST FEATURE FILM AT THIS YEARS 5TH ANNUAL MARTHA’S VINEYARD AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL

PLAINFIELD, N.J.—New Jersey- based Green Glass Films won the top prize for feature filmmaking in this year’s Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, held last weekend. The competition was sponsored and judged by Home Box Office.

ALGENY, written and directed by newcomer Andrew Burroughs, tackles the billion-dollar machine that is the pharmaceutical industry. In this conspiracy packed thriller, its main character, played by Alfred E. Rutherford, is the victim of a bio-chemical experiment that can help or hurt mankind as we know it.

Tackling issues relevant and pertinent to the nation’s healthcare system and their motives for treating illness vs. curing illness, this riveting tale gives a look at how expendable corporations think civilian lives can be.

Garnering high praise early on, Burroughs was excited about being honored by his colleagues at this year’s festival.

“This great accomplishment is truly an honor and a dream come true.” Burroughs said. “I’m thrilled to take first place amongst distinguished film makers.”

***

About Andrew Burroughs

ALGENY marks the feature debut of Andrew Burroughs. A winner of Kodak’s “I Got It Made” sweepstakes, he works and lives in his hometown of Plainfield, New Jersey. His short film, STATUS, has been screened at over 15 film festivals nationwide, including the 2003 Hollywood Black Film Festival and the New York African Diaspora Film Festival.  He’s a working class filmmaker devoted to providing ground level opportunities to enter the world of filmmaking as the art more and more becomes global and participatory.

About The Festival

The fifth Annual Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival (MVAAFF), a celebration that showcases the work of independent and established filmmakers, took place August 8th – 11th, 2007 in Oak Bluff and Vineyard Haven, which is located on Martha’s Vineyard.

Dubbed “a filmmaker’s film festival,” the MVAAFF continues to stay true to its original mission: to shine light on the multitude of undiscovered talent which exists in the Black film community.

Founded in 2001 by Run & Shoot Film works, Inc., a New York-based film production company, the MVAAFF is a fun-filled, inspirational retreat committed to showcasing the works of emerging independent and established filmmakers. Under the keen leadership of the festival’s producers, entertainment industry veterans Floyd A.B. Rance III and Stephanie Tavares-Rance, the MVAAFF continues to gain national awareness and has carved its niche in the ever-growing arena of film fests.

Since its inception, the festival has been the launch pad for burgeoning writers, directors, producers and breakout actors. Some of the entertainers who have presented material at the annual festival include Vanessa L. Williams’ directorial debut of “Dense,” John Singleton’s “Four Brothers” and Vondie Curtis Hall’s “Redemption,” to name a few.

The movie’s website is www.algenymovie.com. The film’s trailer is there.

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