Art In FLUX Harlem presents ECHOES: A Time to Keep & A Time to Let Go Opening: Friday, November 9th, 2012 (6-9PM) Harlem, New York City

                                                                              

Official Website: www.artinfluxharlem.com

    

ECHOES
Opens NOV. 9th, 2012 6-9pm
A dual-gallery exhibition in which artists reveal the importance of the spiritual power of Africa by retaining elements of the traditional world and yet creating a new contemporary vision. Through visual art, film, photography, dance, and spoken word, artists proclaim a cultural heritage while they explore, celebrate, play, question, challenge or protest diverse issues. The exhibition, spreading in two inter-connected spaces, illustrates the importance of past histories and conveys the vital significance of African traditions in the diaspora.

Opening Night Special Events

Spoken Word: Hisham Tawfiq, Ebbe Bassey, Tara Mhella, Gena Bardwell

Percussion Performance:  Mark Manczuk
Dance Interpretation:  Ntifafa Akoko Tete-Rosenthal
Instrumental music:  Hasan Bakr and Kevin Nathaniel Hylton
DJ Mix: Jeremiah Kpoh

EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Alberte Bernier, Beatrice Lebreton, Carlos DeMedeiros, Dougba Caranda-Martin, Gail Shaw-Clemons, Geraldine Gaines, Ibou Ndoye, J W Ford, Lance Johnson, Leonardo Benzant, Makeba Rainey, Nyugen Smith, Tara Mhella, Toni Thomas, and Trish Mayo. 

PRODUCTION TEAM
Beatrice Lebreton, Curator
Ibou Ndoye, Curator
Ebbe Bassey, Filmmaker
Belynda M'baye, Production Manager

This exhibit, reflective of the mission of Art In FLUX Harlem, was created through a collaborative effort among artists.  The idea of the exhibit was sparked by a curatorial proposal presented by Beatrice Lebreton, and Ibou Ndoye.  The two were introduced to filmmaker Ebbe Bassey whose film, Siri Oko Fo (Mending Fences), inspired the artworks presented in the “Time to Let Go” gallery.  Belynda M’baye came on board as the production manager for the opening night reception and coordinated dance, music and spoken word - all responses to the artworks and the film.

LOCATION:
Art In FLUX Harlem
1961 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. (7th Ave) @ 118th Street

Harlem, New York City

GOOGLE MAPS


GALLERY HOURS:
Wed - Sat:  noon to 7pm
Sun:  noon to 5pm

www.artinfluxharlem.com

A (Black) Comic Book BOOK Party in Brooklyn In Collaboration w/ Bronx Heroes Saturday, October 27th, 2012 / 6PM - 8PM Brooklyn, New York City

                                 

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N.Steven Harris is coordinating an event which utilizes alternative space for comic events. Bronx Heroes is going to Crooklyn!!! There will be independent and mainstream comic artist displaying and selling their work, books and other items. Come check out another side of comics you may not be use to seeing.

Simeon and Cinningham Gallery:

A Comic Book BOOK Party

Featuring Some of the Most Talented

Comic Book Creators and Animators

Be Prepared To Buy Stuff

Saturday, October 27th, 2012

6PM - 8PM

1081 Fulton Street

(at the corner of Classon Avenue)

Brooklyn, New York City

"C" or "S" (Shuttle) Train To Franklin Avenue

GOOGLE MAPS

ARTISTS

Jennifer Crute

Ray Felix

Robert Garrett

N. Steven Harris 

Regine Sawyer

Rob Taylor

Trevor Von Eeedon

UPDATE (Saturday, October 27th, 2012)

I just got back from the Comic Book BOOK Party and had a nice time. I saw one of my favorite artists (a qool, qool brutha) and the co-event organizer, N. Steven Harris.

I picked  up a few books from the grassroots Black artists that were there: so, from C.F. Godwell we have NUKLEUS: Born Into This and it's precursor The Boy From Planet (pictured above and signed -- of course!)

And from an artist named Da'Shen I picked up a science-fiction novella (short story) called The Atrophied Man. The small compact size and NICE cover caught my attention, plus the fact it was science-fiction themes opened my eyes more.

Da'Shen said The Atrophied Man is about a brutha who has these powers where he can communicate with inanimate objects. The downside is that when he uses theses powers he blacks out for lie 3 months and when he awakens there's drama at times because he hasn't conducted his life in 3 months. It sounds interesting so I'll give it a read.

THPAC Presents A RAMP TO PARADISE 21 Performance ONLY!!! November 8th, 2012 @ 7:30PM The Kumble Theater in Brooklyn, New York

                 

Official Website: ThelmaHill.com

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Fatima Kafele
718-484-0022; fatima.kafele@liu.edu

Paradise Garage, New York City’s Legendary Underground Dance Club Celebrated in Major Multi-media Dance Project by Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center

"A Ramp to Paradise 2"

Dancers Recreate One Night at Paradise Garage Under the Choreography and Direction of Walter Rutledge

October 8, 2012 (Brooklyn, New York) Renowned Brooklyn, New York arts organization, Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC), in association with Kumble Theater, presents A Ramp To Paradise 2, a groundbreaking chronicle of the legendary New York City underground dance club, Paradise Garage, choreographed by Walter Rutledge. The performance will take place on November 8, 2012 at the Kumble Theater on Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus located on Flatbush Avenue between DeKalb Avenue and Willoughby Street (Trains-2,3,4,5,B,Q,R).  Performance is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 until October 20, $25 thereafter and may be purchased at the Kumble Theater box office or website www.kumbletheater.org. Ticket prices include an after party.

The groundbreaking A Ramp To Paradise 2 is a multi-media dance narrative of one night during the 1980s at the edgy, predominantly Black and Latino lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT)/same gender loving (SGL) club, which featured the awe-inspiring DJ talent of the late Larry Levan, live performances by everyone from Luther Vandross to Jocelyn Brown, Patti Labelle to Grace Jones, Madonna to Sylvester, a host of house music superstars, and a mix of LGBT/SGL and straight patrons no other club has matched. 

“While all of our programming has its challenges, the magnitude of A Ramp To Paradise 2 required 5 years of planning,” states THPAC Executive Chair, Alex Smith, Jr., who conceived and developed the project. "Choreographer and dancer selection were critical as there is a huge Paradise Garage fan base we wanted to satisfy as well as the dance enthusiasts who support THPAC,” he stated. A Ramp To Paradise 2 exclusively uses period club music mixed by a DJ including mixes by Paradise Garage DJ phenom Larry Levan.

The work not only celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of the closing of the iconic Paradise Garage, but also exalts the great strides made in the LGBT/SGL community. Over its ten years of operation (1977- 1987), the groundbreaking Paradise Garage shaped the club scene in New York City and set the standard worldwide. "We feel a responsibility to share this unique era in club culture and LGBT/SGL history," says director Rutledge. The cast will reflect the diversity of the LGBT/SGL community with old way vogue artists, couples who hustle, transsexuals who “walk runway and face” as well as traditionally trained dancers. 

About Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC)THPAC, www.thelmahill.com, an independent non-profit organization, was formed in 1976 to forge and temper creative talent. Over 36 years, the organization has attracted both emerging and established artists of color who developed a perpetual evolutionary cycle in which hundreds of alumni have gone on to successful careers as dancers and choreographers in the U.S. and abroad. The mission of THPAC is to build bridges of understanding through the presentation and celebration of choreographic works by artists of color. From fostering grassroots involvement at home to expanding awareness of the arts abroad, THPAC facilitates artistic collaborations, such as performances, workshops, seminars and community projects. Alex Smith, Jr. has been at the helm of the organization for the past 15 years.

Choreographer, director, playwright, and author Walter Rutledge studied at Harkness House for Ballet Arts where he was encouraged to develop his interest in choreography and direction. He danced with the Harkness Ballet of New York. His choreography was performed at the Paradise Garage in the late 80’s. Presently he is the Associate Artistic Director and resident choreographer of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre and Senior Cultural Arts contributor for Harlem World Magazine.

About The Paradise GarageHoused in a parking garage, now owned by Verizon, in lower Manhattan, the Paradise Garage was founded by Michael Brody and operated from 1977 to 1987.  The club was famed for its DJ Larry Levan and its award-winning sound system designed by Richard Long and Associates (RLA). It was also known for its highly diverse celebrity patrons and its all night parties, which often lasted until past noon the next day. The club was focused on dancing and was one of the first to put the DJ at the center of the action.

 

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE 

Ebony Soul 2013-2014 19-Month Wall Calendar; Photographer Anthony Ragland PUSHES The Envelope, Yet Still Maintains A Sexy, Stylish and Succulent Multi-Hued Portrait of Black Men

                                               

Official Website: EbonySoul.net

FINALLY!!!! It's been a looooong minute since photographer Anthony Ragland has released a new calendar of sexy Black men. His last and previous calendar was the 2010-2011 edition!

Unlike most calendars, Anthony takes a different approach by creating calendars that typically overlap from one year and into the next - generally he creates TRUE 18th-month calendars. And by "TRUE" I mean you get to flip to a new model once a month for 18 months!! There's none of that bullshit where some calendars CHEAT by condensing the last 4 months of the current selling year onto 1 page and then turn around and call it a 16-month calendar when it is not, as an example.

I had met up with Anthony (for the first time) and we had lunch at Grand Central Station back in May 2012. He showed me the new calendar, and of course, it was off the chain!! And being a fan of Anthony's work you know I had him sign the cover to my copy of the calendar...

  

Now that we are in calendar season, and the NEW EbonySoul.net website is up and running, I wanted to do this blog entry on the calendar.

As usual, and as I have been saying for many, many years now, Ebony Soul is the PRE-EMINENT top of the line producer of Black male calendars. I like other calendars such as Spirit of Black Men (which is published by the Shades of Color company which, by the way, also produced the previously awesome and now defunct ONYX calendar), Black Men and City Gym Boys, but this time around he really pushed the envelope by having some of the models pose nude -- and no there's no private parts revealed -- yet Anthony's photography once again TASTEFULLY shows his VISION of Black men as sexy, stylish and very succulent! There are too many calendars out there that are really just boring and ordinary especially the nude ones -- NOT EBONY SOUL! Ebony Soul, in my mind,  continues to be the KING of Black male calendar for 10 YEARS NOW!

For the record, Anthony does not pay me to do this, nor do I endorse something that I don't like or not passionate about (especially to my Nubian Knights Network readers)... with that said, out of the 19 models this time around there are a few models with a photographic look by Anthony that exceptionally exude  sexy, stylish and succulence...

ROD's Top 7 Favorites Bruthaz Are: 

RONNIE (January 2013)

I Made This Image Garayscale (Black & White)

But It Is A Color Image In The Calendar

 ARTHUR (August 2013)

The Loose Belt, Shirt & Blue Sky

Really Make This Image Stand Out

 WALT (September 2013)

What Can I Say? - WALT Is Just Exuding Succulence...

 CROSS (October 2013) 

WOW! Can I Have a Pair Of Those Plum Colored Undies???

 WILSON (December 2013)

Wilson Is Tied With Dwight As My TOP, TOP Favorite.
AAAHHHHH!!! Book Reading...

 KENIKA (April 2014)
This Image Was More About The Photography For Me

Than The Model Because of The Sepia Tone Look

And The Water Streaming From The Showerhead

And The Streams & Beads Of Water On KENIKA's Body

DWIGHT (July 2014)

 IF I Had To Make A Hard Choice

DWIGHT Would Be The Top Winner Here

ULTRA SEXY & SUCCULENT

The Ebony Soul 2013-2014 19-Month Wall Calendar

is 12" x 12" in size and is available for $19.99 by clicking below at

 

OR

++++++++++++++++++++++

Other Black Male Calendar Considerations...

Spirit of Black Men 2013 Wall Calendar 

(12" x 12" - 12-Month) 

 

Click Image To Purchase

 

Black Men 2013 Wall Calender
(12" x 12" - 12-Month)

Click Image To Purchase

City Gym Boys 2013 Wall Calendar

(12" x 12" - 12-Month)

Click Image To Purchase

 

Joe Pressley's Community Vision For GMAD... Renewal Into The Next 25 Years

Community Vision

 

 by Joey Bernard Pressley

(A Guest Nubian Knight's Perspective)

The recent resignation of Tokes Osubu from New York City’s Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) has prompted me to think very seriously about the future of the Black gay/same gender loving (SGL) community and the vision needed to confront and address our needs as we work to move forward.  It has also generated my interest in becoming GMAD’s next executive director.  A position for which I would consider applying the moment the organization’s Board of Directors elects to initiate its search process.  

I’ve read that GMAD founder, the Reverend Charles Angel, was a tireless, outspoken and fearless activist who stood in the forefront of several organizing efforts in the New York City gay and people with AIDS communities including, the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, ACT-UP, and the People with AIDS Coalition. In those Silence = Death days, he understood the vital importance of advocacy, a clear vision and establishing a set of goals for addressing a community’s broader needs. It was a holistic approach to activism rooted in a proud African heritage, progressive Christian teachings and his belief in psycho-spiritual growth.  It was from this set of beliefs that GMAD grew, and continued to grow even after Charles Angel’s untimely death from AIDS complications in 1987, three years before I discovered GMAD via its Friday night forums.  These forums often brought a hundred or more Black gay men to The Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in Greenwich Village.

Organizations such as GMAD, many of which are more than two decades old, were founded as psycho-social-political entities designed to celebrate and empower Black gay/SGL men. GMAD employed its holistic approach to create a much needed safe space for its constituents to look at the intersecting issues in our lives.  In the 1990s, these well-intentioned organizations sought funding to combat HIV/AIDS. This shift transformed them into AIDS service organizations that, by necessity, narrowed their scope and vision.  As the unpaid director of GMAD in 1991, I was involved in securing one of the first grants for the organization thinking that it would create a pathway to growth and facilitate a greater response to the devastation levied by AIDS on our community.

Given this ongoing devastation, it stands to reason that our organizations must maintain a powerful response to the epidemic; however, being pigeonholed as only an AIDS service organization restricts the ability of Black gay/SGL institutions to effectively speak for and to the myriad needs of their constituents. Black gay/SGL men are as concerned about employment as they are about HIV prevention and treatment. We are concerned about the impacts of climate change and hate crimes, a woman’s right to choose as well as marriage equality and our presence in the military.  Black gay/SGL men are equally concerned and impacted by lack of access to healthcare, education, housing, criminal justice issues and income inequality.  Working with faith-based institutions, combating stigma, homophobia and addressing the social, economic and behavioral cofactors related to the rise in HIV/AIDS infections will be ongoing work for GMAD.  At the same time, I see GMAD standing shoulder to shoulder with other progressive organizations working in coalition to promote a fairer, more just society and world.

Our organizations need new funding streams that will enable us to become active participants and thought leaders in these arenas.  As an expert in community organizing and policy analysis, with years of experience in organizational management and fund raising, I would seek to diversify GMAD’s revenue supports so that its efforts would reflect the broader needs of its constituents. An initial first step moving forward is for GMAD to engage in a strategic planning exercise designed to assess strengths and weaknesses and to redefine its vision and related mission. Stakeholders engaged in this process would include past and current staff and funders, policymakers, community leaders and of course a diverse representation of New York’s Black gay/SGL men. The organization would work directly with Black gay/SGL men via ongoing participatory engagement to develop agendas and strategic plans reflective of the community’s priorities and work with legislators and public officials to shape policy and legislation responsive to identified needs.

I recognize that this vision is broad and ambitious, but it is also one of more personal concerns.  I think about my 9 year old nephew.  What if he shared with my husband and me that he is gay?  What world would he face?  Simply put, I would want our society to embrace and support him.  I would look to GMAD, and organizations like it, to stand without equivocation or shame in demanding that all of us, including my dear nephew, have the equal and unmitigated opportunity to celebrate our lives, and have the space to act as partners in bringing about transformative social, economic and political change.
    
Respectfully,

Joey Bernard Pressley
(October 16th, 2012)

My Quick Thoughts On Kal King and Tariq On... The L.A. Complex 2nd Season Finale: "Don't Say Goodbye"

Don't know if anyone saw the 2nd season finale ("Don't Say Goodbye") of The L.A. Complex, but it was quite a ride to see the Kaldrick King (aka Shawn Duggan) character (played by actor Andra Fuller) grow in his story arc. After his domestic abuse of if the Tariq character (played by Actor Benjamin Charles Watson) I didn't know if I could have compassion for Kal.

 Actors Benjamin Charles Watson and Andra Fuller

 

I was most struck by his admission of having a Black man -- his father -- re-enter his life and make him be a better person. You usually don't see that in series television for Black men.

Though deep down I would have liked some reconciliation -- no, a relationship with Tariq and Kal, it was probably for the better as a more realistic storyline and not cheapen the characters with a fairytale fake ending. I still FEEL for Tariq because he will STILL be left with those emotional scares for quite some time. And as bruthaz alluded to in a previous thread, the writers didn't get into a story arc of Tariq's struggles of get his life together from the traumatizing domestic abuse from Kal.

Actor Andra Fuller as Kal King

It's still painful to see one Black man die at the hands of another (the end of the episode), but Kal's boyhood buddy (Rook) was being a friend as best he could, and though I don't agree with the method of CANCELLING another bruthaz' LIFE I understood he felt like he had no other options. And the angry Black man syndrome is tired, too, by the way.

Actor Benjamin Charles Watson as Tariq

Not sure if the show will come back for a 3rd season, or even if it does, not sure it would be with these set of characters because it looks like the writers have done all they could with all of them -- but as superficial as most of these characters were in this tv series, it was satisfying to know the meat of integrity for this series was Kal King (and Tariq and later Kal's father) driving a relevant and good story arc.

LINK: http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/the-la-complex/dont-say-goodbye/