NYC Vigil to Remember SGL Activist David Kato (Thur, Feb. 3rd, 2011) David Kato's New York City Memorial Service (Mon, Feb. 7th, 2011)

On Thursday, February 3rd, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and other concerned organizations will hold a peaceful vigil near the Ugandan Mission to the United Nations in New York City to remember and honor David Kato’s life and his struggle for human rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Join us in mourning David and showing the Ugandan government that there must be no more violence and discrimination against LGBT Ugandans.

When: February 3, 2011 4:00 pm
Where: Location to be determined. Vigil will be followed by a procession to Uganda House – 336 E. 45th St.

(New York, February 1, 2011) US religious leaders have a moral responsibility to condemn and combat the murderous spread of homophobic hate in Uganda, said a coalition of thirty-five human rights organizations announcing a vigil in memory of slain Ugandan human rights activist David Kato. The candlelight vigil will be held at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza and followed by a silent procession to Uganda House, the Ugandan mission to the United Nations, on February 3 at 4 pm. (Co-sponsors are listed below.)

Kato, a prominent leader of the same gender loving movement in Uganda, was found murdered in his Kampala home on January 26. His photograph had been published in a Ugandan tabloid that called for hanging homosexual people; he had recently led a successful lawsuit forcing the publication to desist. The groups also voiced concern that homophobia may prevent Ugandan authorities from conducting a full and fair investigation of Kato’s murder.

READ MORE...

AND

Click Image To Enlarge


Stand In Solidarity with


Sexual Minorities Uganda
&
The Global Justice Institute

Please Join Us For
David Kato's
New York City Memorial Service

Monday, February 7th, 2011 @ 7:00PM
Abyssinian Baptist Church
132 Odell Clark Place
(West 138th Street
between Lenox Avenue & Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd)
Harlem, New York City

GOOGLE MAPS

HISTORIC HARLEM CHURCH TO HOLD SERVICE FOR UGANDAN SGL ADVOCATE

As same gender loving and transgender Ugandans and same-gender-loving faith leaders in the United States mourn the death of SGL leader David Kato, the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City is opening its doors to host a memorial service for Mr. Kato. The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III one of the leading African American ministers in the United States will preside over the service in a congregation known as the “cradle of the Black Church.”

Info: http://gaybygod.net/david-kato/


WHO: The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor Abyssinian Baptist Church

Pastor Joseph W. Tolton, pastor of Rehoboth Christ Consciousness

Pastor Michael Walrond Jr., pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church

Bishop Yvette Flunder, presiding bishop of The Fellowship

Frank Mugisha, president of Sexual Minorities Uganda

Charles Radcliffe, Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights


WHAT: Memorial Service and call for solidarity in remembrance of slain Ugandan SGL rights advocate, David Kato.

WHEN: Monday February 7, 2011. 7pm

WHERE: Abyssinian Baptist Church 132 Odell Clark Place, NY, NY (W 138th St)

For Directions: http://www.abyssinian.org/contact/contact/

WHY: On Wednesday January 26, 2011 David Kato, a Ugandan SGL rights advocate, was beaten to death in his home. His death comes just months after his name, picture and home address were published by the Ugandan newspaper, Rolling Stone, where Kato and 99 others were pictured in an article calling for their execution. Uganda came under scrutiny last year as its parliament proposed the death penalty for homosexual people. Many believe American Evangelicals who visited Uganda in 2009 helped create the bill and fomented a climate of fear leading to violence.


The memorial, will remember Kato's work, celebrate his life, and mourn his death while challenging lawmakers, foreign and domestic governments and citizens of this world to respond with action against anti-homosexual movements stoked by religion.

Chocolate Babies (1997) Film Screening Billy Wilder Theater In Los Angeles, California Friday, December 10th, 2010 @ 7:30PM

“Chocolate Babies” (1997)
Directed by Stephen Winter
Running Time: 83 minutes (35mm film print)

When a band of HIV-positive African American drag queens have had enough of patronizing activists and politicians, they launch an underground terror campaign to fight for justice. Writer-director Stephen Winter's scathingly funny and tender feature debut hits like a hand grenade, demolishing independent film conventions as thoroughly as the political marginalization and complacency that are its main targets.

Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive's Legacy Project series, in partnership with OutFest. Chocolate Babies is distributed by Frameline Distribution.


Producer: Jason Kliot, Joana Vicente.
Screenwriter: Stephen Winter.
Editor: Francisco Macias.
Cast: Suzanne Gregg Ferguson, Dudley Findlay, Jr., Jon Kit Lee, Michael Lynch, Claude E. Sloan.

In person: Ernest Hardy, Tisa Bryant, editors, War Diaries; Kevin Simmonds, contributor, War Diaries; Pato Hebert, AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA); Keith M. Harris, associate professor, UC Riverside.

Tickets: $10.00
Purchase Tickets...

Archive events FREE to UCLA students with ID.

The "Black Artist As Activist" Exhibit Opening Reception Sunday, January 31st, 2010 4PM - 6PM Brooklyn, New York

Our Children’s Journey
by Kevin E. Cole

OPENING:
Sunday, January 31th, 2010
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
The art exhibit is on view through Sunday, March 28th, 2010

WHERE:
Corridor Gallery
334 Grand Avenue
(Between Gates and Greene Avenues)
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718.230.5002
GOOGLE MAP

ARTISTS: Regina Agu, Andrea Chung, Kevin E. Cole, Sheryl Renee Dobson, Khalid Kodi, Zoraida Lopez, Joanna Mcfarland, Jasmine Murrell, Shani Peters, Terrance Sanders, Malik Seneferu, Ademola Olugebefola, and Derick Cross, among others.

ABOUT: Working with a grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College partnered with the Danny Simmons Corridor Gallery and the National Conference of Artists New York to bring forth a multitude of various voices and mediums from around the country to raise awareness of the ways in which Black artists use art as a tool of transformation and liberation for themselves and the larger global community. The exhibit at Corridor Gallery will feature artists who use various media including collage, painting, printmaking and photography to depict images that represent the artist as activist and art as an instrument for social change.

# # #

About The Center for Black Literature (CBL) at Medgar Evers College/CUNY

Founded in 2003, the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College was established to expand, broaden, and enrich the public’s knowledge and aesthetic appreciation of the value of black literature, to continue the tradition and legacy of the National Black Writers Conference, to serve as a voice, mecca, and resource for black writers, and to study the literature of people from the African Diaspora. As part of its mission, the Center also collaborates with educational, cultural and community-based organizations. It is the only Center devoted to this in the country and also serves as a vehicle for nurturing and cultivating the critical reading and writing habits of a cross-generation of readers and writers, particularly those who are in school, and for sponsoring programs which demonstrate the Center’s commitment to nurturing and supporting emerging writers.. Among its major programs are the National Black Writers Conference, the Re-Envisioning Our Lives through Literature High School Collaborative Project, the North Country Institute and Retreat for Writers of Color, the Writers on Writing Radio Program, and the Elder African American Writers Workshop.

About Corridor Gallery

Corridor Gallery (Clinton Hill, Brooklyn) is a core program of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1995 by brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons. Corridor Gallery is dedicated to providing exhibition opportunities to the emerging artistic community including artists, curators and writers primarily living and working in Brooklyn and the surrounding areas. Since its establishment in 1996, the gallery has supported a unique constellation of artists and creative practices—experimental ventures in performance, visual art, and curatorial work and has exhibited the work of hundreds of non-commercially represented artists. The gallery serves the local community by hosting special events aimed at initiating a dialogue on matters relating to contemporary art. In addition, Corridor Gallery is also home to Rush Education Programs that expose and immerse disadvantaged urban youth in the study and practice of contemporary art. The exhibitions and educational programs of the galleries are sponsored in part by a grant from the New York State Council for the Arts and are free and open to the public. In 2008, the Gallery was awarded the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture from the department of Cultural Affairs for its pioneering programming.

About The National Conference of Artists – NY

The National Conference of Artists (NCA) was founded as The National Conference of Negro Artists at a gathering on March 28-29, 1959 in Dean Sage Hall of Atlanta University during the annual exhibition of Black art held by the famed artist and educator Hale Woodruff. The organization was later renamed the National Conference of Artists with chapters in many of the major Black cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Birmingham, Dallas, Los Angeles, Boston, Richmond and Rochester, NY. Through exhibitions and cultural programs, NCA's goal is to inform, train, and motivate those in the arts to make their talents a force for social change, to help provide employment opportunities, and to reach the general public in a way that will move them in a positive direction through various programs. The New York chapter of NCA was established in 2006.

Contact: Lea Byrd of LEABYRD PR at 917.319.5449 • leabyrd[at]gmail.com


UPDATE (TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND, 2010):

I went to the opening celebration of this Black art on Sunday and FOLKS... the place was freakin' packed wall-to-wall with just a sea of Black folks. It caught me completely off guard and considering the cold weather, too. But yo, we definitely showed up to support and it was great to see. The art pieces and art installations were FUCKING POWERFUL. I don't think anything has ever jarred me more in all my years of going to see Black art exhibitions than seeing the DARFUR DIRTY LAUNDRY art installation in particular. I have pictures of this installation below but the pics don't do the installation justice as you have to be at the art gallery to experience it for yourself.

The Black Artist As Activist Exhibit will continue to be on display the Black owned Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn, New York until March 28th, 2010!

WHERE:
Corridor Gallery
334 Grand Avenue
(Between Gates and Greene Avenues)
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718.230.5002
GOOGLE MAP

Check out the pictures I took of Sunday's opening day below. I apologize in advance for the lack of quality regarding the pictures. I didn't think to bring my good camera gear with me and all I had was my Palm Treo 700P camera phone and it takes crummy pictures with no flash to say the least.

PLEASE GO AND SUPPORT
THIS INCREDIBLE ART EVENT!

GET ON THEIR MAILING LIST!

AND LEAVE A DONATION BEFORE YOU LEAVE, TOO!

Click on any of the images to enlarge them...

The Art of Malik Seneferu

Artist Malik Seneferu Explaining To Onlookers
The Inspiration Behind His Exhibited Work
(About Haiti) That He Created in the Mid 1990s

The Art of Malik Seneferu (Website)

The Art of Malik Seneferu (Website)

The Director of Corridor Gallery Addressing The Black Family
And Explaining The Programs Of The Gallery
And Different Upcoming Events

Darfur's Dirty Laundry
Art Installation
(Painting Hung On The Wall)

Darfur's Dirty Laundry
Art Installation
(On The Floor)

YES,
This Is A Simulation Of Victims/Dead Bodies In Darfur

Because It Was A Packed House, It Was Interesting
How We Were All Being Careful Not To Step
On The Installation As People Either Looked On
Or Walked Around To See Other Art!
THIS WAS POWERFUL BEYOND WORDS!!

This Tribute To Sean Bell Was So Beautiful.
I Couldn't Help But Think How Somber This Installation Looked
In Comparison to Some Of The Other And More Edger Art Pieces

Sean Bell Was Gunned Down & Executed By
New York City Police Officers

The Faces of Sean Bell And His Wife Nicole Paultre Bell
SO BEAUTIFUL!!

The
"It's 10PM. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE?",
The Bullet, And The Syringe Are Powerful Symbols
On This Clock Installation Art

A Crowded And Packed Corridor Gallery

I Never Got This Sistah's Name But She Is A Spoken Word Artist.
SHE WAS AWESOME!
I Was At A Documentary Film Shoot The Night Before
At A Barbershop In Greenpoint, Brooklyn
And She Was An Invited Guest.
It Was Nice To Bump Into Her Twice Within 24 Hours

A Bite Of My Apple Tree Play Was Perfomed

Malik Seneferu's Pan-African Fist Artwork

e-Celebration of KWANZAA:Good For You (ROD)My Heart Just Wasn't In It This Year

e-Celebration of KWANZAA:
My Heart Just Wasn't In It This Year

by N. Abdul-Wakil

(A Guest Nubian Knight's Perspective)

Peace, Rod:

I see that you moved ahead with e-celebration of Kwanzaa via posts to your blog. Good for you. My heart just wasn't in it this year.

Perhaps, it's the cumulative effect of having lived in the ghetto of Bed-Stuy for over three and a half years. I feel good that my voice for progressive movement is heard by a handful of people online. However, I don't even have to leave my apartment to be aware that my activism only creates one small air bubble surfacing among the relentless tide of ignorance that is eroding the coasts of this nation in daily massive waves. No one hears the faint calls for social justice, black nationalism, or reminders of the lessons taught by our great, martyred leaders of the twentieth century. No one hears above the mobile phones plastered to their ears. No one hears through the black, blonde or "ghetto fabulous" loud pink, horsetail-hair helmets that two thirds of Black women don daily to compete for attention among the dwindling number of straight Black men temporarily on the streets between jail terms. No one wants to hear about how their use of the "N" word denigrates their racial self-esteem (and passes it along to their children). It's not as though this is racial self-hatred. This is a hip form of camaraderie. It must be. They see usage of this word affirmed by music videos and popular films. No one even gives a hoot about recycling (which is the law). Why should they? Hasn't it always been easier to just throw the empty liquor bottles and cans out the window? Surely, it's better to do this than to risk everyone in one's building noticing the overwhelming number of vodka bottles in the recycle can. By throwing trash out the windows it's easier to wallow in the denial that no one knows what building residents have drinking problems. Right?