"Passing Ceremonies" at Nuyorican Poets CafeA Play About Black SGL LoveNovember 5th - 21st, 2009 ONLY! (NYC)

Juneteenth Legacy Theater
Lorna Littleway Co-Founder
and
Sugar Valley Theatricals
present

Passing Ceremonies

by Steve Willis
Directed by Sue Lawless**

Starring
Bryan Webster*
& James Edward Becton, III*
With Armand Valdes & Tom Martin

A story about same gender loving Black love, set in the hereafter, where poets Bruce Nugent and Essex Hemphill meet. Backstage.com calls it a "promising new play" with "sharp characterization." "Bryan Webster's glistening performance... mixes humor, intelligence, perception, and grace."

In a cafe somewhere between "earth life and paradise" poet, essayist and activist Essex Hemphill (1957-1995) meets Harlem Renaissance writer and visual artist Richard Bruce Nugent (1906-1987) and together they try to figure out if they really belong "on the other side". Essex is anxious to finish a project he was working on shortly before his death: a book on the lives of older black gay men. He wants to interview Bruce, but Bruce insists that it is now impossible for Essex to complete the book. Throughout the play, the two spar, lament, Hemphill share stories about their passions, and challenge those left behind to "pick up [their] weapons." Juneteenth Legacy Theater & Sugar Valley Theatricals present Steve Willis' Passing Ceremonies, a poetic, fantastical tribute to these two icons of African American, Same Gender Loving literature.

9 Performances Only
November 5th-21st, 2009
Thursdays-Saturdays
7:00PM

TICKETS ON SALE NOW
for
Passing Ceremonies
At the Nuyorican Poets Cafe
236 East 3rd Street
(between Avenues B & C)

Reservations: 212-780-9386 or nuyorican.org

These performances of
Passing Ceremonies
are generously funded by
The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
and
The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

*members AEA **member SDC

Go Virtual for Safer Online Shopping

Go Virtual for Safer Online Shopping
To foil online fraudsters looking to steal or sell your regular credit card number, you may want to use a virtual credit card instead.

Erik Larkin, PC World

Even if you're diligent in protecting your PC from every online hazard imaginable, you may not be able to do much about the biggest threat to your data--and to your finances. Thieves can tap into millions of financial records belonging to companies that charge or process credit cards.

The good news is that you can make your recorded credit card number worthless to any thief. Virtual credit card numbers--which you can get from some banks, PayPal, and a new online service--allow for additional fraud protections.

Banks typically offer fraud liability protection to guard against stolen or misused card numbers, but the hassle of proving your innocence and dealing with the aftermath might be just as painful as losing your money. Virtual credit card numbers keep you from having to deal with either scenario. Merchants process virtual numbers just as they would a standard card number, and you can use the numbers for online or phone purchases that don't require showing your card. However, if you're buying will-call tickets or anything else that requires you to present the card used to make the purchase, you shouldn't use a virtual number.

Virtual credit card numbers may be your best defense against credit card theft these days. A regular credit card number has real value on the Internet's black market, and data breaches in which criminals steal such numbers are on the rise. In August, the U.S. Department of Justice charged a Florida man with taking part in a huge heist of financial data from credit card processor Heartland Payment Systems. By the time authorities caught that suspect, the damage may have already been done: The stolen numbers almost certainly changed hands and appeared on underground sites that offer card numbers for a mere $2 each.

A crook who steals a virtual credit card number, however, gets only a meaningless string of numbers. If you have a credit card (not a debit card) from Bank of America, Citibank, or Discover, or if you use PayPal, you already have free access to the feature. A new online service called Shop Shield also provides various levels of protection.

All of those offerings add an extra step to any purchase, since you must first create a new card number through a banking site, desktop software, or a browser plug-in. That extra step is worth it, though, as every virtual number is tied to the first merchant that uses it, so any subsequent charges to the same virtual number are denied. Other options may allow you to set a spending limit or an expiration date.

How to Create a Virtual Card Number

Bank of America cardholders can create a virtual card number by logging in to the online banking site, clicking the View Options link to the right of the credit card account, and then choosing Create a ShopSafe account number. From there, you can set a spending limit and expiration date. Head to Bank of America's site for more on ShopSafe.

If you have a Discover card, you create a virtual number via Discover's Secure Online Account Number page. Discover also offers downloadable software for Windows that runs from the system tray. (Click the Download Now button under Desktop Version on the same Web page.) The software can pop up to allow you to create a virtual card number when you're making an online purchase, and it can fill in forms.

For Citibank, log in to online banking and click on Virtual Account Numbers in the upper-right corner. You can also download software by logging in to citicards.com or universalcard.com, selecting Get a Virtual Account Number from the 'Tools and Services' drop-down menu, and then clicking Download Now. Citi's software works much the same as Discover's desktop app does.

PayPal users can grab a browser plug-in for Internet Explorer or Firefox (only for Windows) by logging in to their account, choosing Products & Services, and then clicking the PayPal Plug-in link under 'More Products and Services'. The plug-in adds an icon to the upper-right corner of the Web browser with drop-down menu options to create a Secure Card virtual number and perform other PayPal tasks.

Virtual Numbers, Virtual Profiles

You can tie Shop Shield to any credit card or checking account. It creates not only a virtual credit card number but also a faux e-mail address, name, and other contact information for use with the number. You can create such profiles either at the company's site or through a Firefox add-on (installed as part of your signing up at the site; an add-on for IE is in the works). Once installed, the add-on recognizes shopping sites and autofill forms. Shop Shield offers a free level of service linked to checking accounts; a pay-as-you-go service for debit and credit cards ($1.99 per use, plus a $0.49 charge for transactions less than $25); and an "unlimited" service for checking, debit, and credit-card accounts, priced at $99 annually.

Soon, you'll likely be able to add some benefits of virtual numbers, such as spending limits and merchant restrictions, to regular credit cards and debit cards. MasterCard, which bought the company that licenses the software used for most virtual credit card offerings, says it is working on a service with both features. In the meantime, virtual credit card numbers will keep potential data thieves chasing a moving target.

Colman Domingo Stars In "A Boy and His Soul "A Black Same Gender Loving PlayNow Playing Through November 1st, 2009 (NYC)

vineyardtheatre.org

EXTENDED!
NOW PLAYING THRU NOV 1

Vineyard Theatre presents
A BOY AND HIS SOUL

Written and performed by Colman Domingo
Choreographed by Ken Roberson
Directed by Tony Kelly

Where do you get soul?

From the kitchen rotary phone cord your sister stretched out nine feet? From never learning the real secrets of your crazy cousin until you were older? From the broken Easy Bake oven your brother used to torment your sister’s Barbie dolls? Or from the memory of watching your parents sell the house you grew up in?

Maybe you get soul from listening to the music on WDAS FM with your mother in the backyard at midnight on a hot summer evening. From Stevie, Aretha, Marvin, Chaka, Barry, Gladys...and Colman.

Come groove into 1970’s West Philly at Vineyard Theatre and discover the "captivating" (Newsday) new play by Colman Domingo, of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical PASSING STRANGE and Logo Network’s ‘THE BIG GAY SKETCH SHOW’ that NY1 hailed as "Theatrical gold! A tour de force... with so much heart ...and soul."

GET ‘SOULED’ THURSDAY OCTOBER 29, 2009.

Colman Domingo in A Boy and His Soul in a moving and hilarious New Play that explores the life-experiences of a young African-American man in 1980s Philadelphia, propelled by the beat of classical soul music.

There will be a Talk Back after the performance with Colman Domingo led by our own (Black SGL brutha) Bryan Glover.

Black Teen Set Afire Now Charged for Earlier Fight

blAckamericaweb.com

Teen Set Afire Now Charged for Earlier Fight

Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 5:23 am
By: Denise Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com

A Black Missouri teen, who last month was doused with gasoline and set afire by two white schoolmates, now faces charges himself as he recovers from burns over most of his body.

Walter Currie Jr., a 15-year-old in Poplar Bluff, Mo., was burned on June 13 after an exchange with two teens with whom he reportedly had a previous altercation.

The youth who allegedly doused him with the gasoline and lit the fuel has been charged with assault as a juvenile, Currie’s parents said.

On July 6, several weeks after the incident, authorities gave Currie and his parents notice that he is being charged in connection with another incident where a teen related to the youth who set him afire was hit in the face, said Winonia Currie, Walter’s mother.

“All of a sudden, they decided to charge him with something that happened on June 10, but Walter said he didn’t have anything to do with it,” she said.

Because all of the people involved are juveniles, court officials in Butler County, Missouri said they can give only limited details on the incidents and cannot discuss names.

“I can tell you that there are charges against everyone involved,” Lesi Smith, chief juvenile officer for Butler County, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

The suspects have not been revealed publicly and could not be reached for this story.

Walter Jr. said the teen who burned him told him he had gasoline and a lighter, and then began to spray him with the fuel before striking the lighter. Walter Jr. ran and jumped on a car, rolling on it to try to stop the burning. He even shed some of his clothing.

Initially, the youth suspected of burning Walter Jr. was arrested and was being held in a juvenile detention facility. He has since been released, according to sources familiar with the case.

The Curries say they want to see justice for their son. They want the 16-year-old to face stiff penalties.

“I want him to serve some time,” Walter Currie Sr. told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Winonia Currie said her son is scheduled for a hearing on Aug. 5 at 1 p.m. and the teen that set her son afire is scheduled on the same day, in the same courtroom, at 2:30 p.m.

The Curries say they have only lived a couple of years in Poplar Bluff, a town about 125 miles south of St. Louis, Mo.

“It’s like a country city,” Winonia Currie said.

Though the family has received words of encouragement from black and white residents, Mrs. Currie said she questions whether everyone will get just treatment.

“The prosecutors have told us they will do everything they can to try him as an adult, but we’re getting very little information,” she said.

The charges for Walter Jr. bring additional hardships for the family.

“We’ve had all these medical bills. The insurance will only cover so much. We have to take him back and forth to the hospital in St Louis,” she said. “Now we have to try to find a lawyer. That’s more money.”

Doctors have told the Curries that it may be two years before their son’s burns are completely healed. He suffered burns on much of his body, including his face, chest, neck and arms.

“The physical wounds are healing, but we still have to deal with the mental stability,” Mrs. Currie said.

The incident has taken a devastating toll on the Walter Jr. and the family, said Tierra Shaffer, Walter’s older sister via email. “He has nightmares of being burned alive,” she said.

The Harlem School of the Arts TheatrePresents "Light In The Cellar" (NYC)

The H.A.D.L.E.Y. Players
at The Harlem School of the Arts Theatre
647 St. Nicholas Avenue (off W. 142nd St.)
Present

"Light In The Cellar"
Written by Gertrude Jeannette
Directed by Patricia R. Floyd

SYNOPSIS: Southern family moves to Harlem in the 1960's to escape racial discrimination, only to face discrimination of a different kind.

FEATURING:

A.C. Davison*, Valarie Tekosky*, Norman Smalls, Toni Ann DeNoble, Albert Eggleston, Benja K*, Steven Lee Edwards, Colette Bryce, Leopold Lowe*, RayMartell Moore, Nzingtha Smith, and the children of The Harlem School of the Arts

*Appearing Courtesy Actor Equity Association

October 23 - November 15, 2009

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Sundays at 2:30 PM

HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE - PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY

TICKETS - $22 GENERAL, $18 SENIORS/STUDENTS
$18 GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE
$8 CHILDREN UNDER 14

OPENING
Sunday, October 25, 2009
2:30 PM - Reception to Follow
$25 For Everyone

FRIDAY OCTOBER 23 & SATURDAY OCTOBER 24
FREE WILL OFFERING (Donations Only)

For Tickets & Info: 212-368-9314. Seating Limited.
Reserve online at: www.ticketannex.com or (866) 388-4-TIX or (866) 388-4849

African Diaspora Film Festival 2009 (NYC)

African Diaspora Film Festival 2009

WHAT: COME CELEBRATE WITH US THE 17TH ANNUAL AFRICAN DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL!!
- 101 films
- 63 world, US and NY premieres
- 46 countries

WHEN: Starting on Thanksgiving Weekend, Friday November 27 and running until December 15

WHERE: Six different venues in Manhattan

UPCOMING SCREENINGS - SPECIAL EVENTS:

OPENING NIGHT - Wole Soyinka & Nothing But the Truth - Fri, Nov 27 @ 8:00PM - Anthology Film Archives

CENTERPIECE - Inside Buffalo - Fri, Dec 4 @ 8:00PM - Cowin Center (Teachers College)

GALA SCREENING - Harimaya Bridge - Sun. Dec 6 @ 5:30PM - Thalia Theatre (Symphonie Space)

A NIGHT IN MOROCCO - The Tale of a Mchaouchi Wrestler / Moussem Lamchaoucha - Tue, Dec. 8 @ 6:30PM - Thalia Theatre (Symphonie Space)

GALA SCREENING - Arugba - Wed, Dec. 9 @ 8:30PM - Anthology Film Archives

WOMEN INDIES NIGHT - The Little Black Shool House & Portia White, Think on Me - Thu, Dec. 10 @ 8:30PM - Schomburg Center

Black Same Gender Loving ARCHIVE Programming Author Series (Harlem, NYC)

Monday, October 26, 2009, 7:00 PM
WRITING WHAT WE KNOW

Join us for a lively reading and discussion with four writers whose thought-provoking innovative works challenge conventional social and cultural norms. Readers include Pamela Sneed, Herukhuti, Curu Necos-Bloice, G. Winston James, and Cheryl Boyce-Taylor. Hosted by Steven G Fullwood, project director of the Black Gay & Lesbian Archive. Books will be available for purchase in the gift shop prior to the event.

Monday, November 2, 2009, 7:00 PM
SONGS FROM THE PARADISE

Three esteemed writers read from their latest works and engage questions about being immigrants, creative artists, and pushing against the grain of social norms as queer artists of color. Featuring Staceyann Chin, Anton Niblett, and Curu Necos-Bloice. Hosted by Steven G Fullwood, project director ofthe Black Gay & Lesbian Archive. Books will be available for purchase in the gift shop prior to the event.

For more information, contact Steven G Fullwood at 212.491.2226 or via email at sfullwood[AT]nypl-dot-org.