"A Short Film About Guns" examines the illegal arms trade and how it functions across the globe. Featuring four experts on arms trafficking who recount their varying first hand experiences with the black market trade in areas of conflict and how the illegal flow of weapons facilitates loss of life and devastation. As the first Arms Trade Treaty is currently being negotiated at the United Nations, the four experts call on all governments to get a deal made and agree on a legally-binding arms treaty.
· Kathi Lynn Austin, arms trafficking investigator, director of Conflict Awareness Project.
· Ishmael Beah, former Sierra Leonean child soldier, author of "A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a Boy Soldier".
· Paul Conroy, Sunday Times war photographer, recently injured while working in Syria.
· Stuart Franklin Platt, Rear Admiral US Navy (ret.), author of "Letters From the Front Line"
With the recent Channel 4 (UK) TV documentary that questioned why African American and Caribbean sprinters tend to excel, and whether answers to that question are rooted in slavery, comes this other documentary that seems to ask a similar question - but instead of looking at sprinters, its focus is on long-distance ruuners, and why numerous world-class long-distance runners come from Ethiopia.
Titled Town Of Runners, the feature doc is directed by Jerry Rothwell, and its full synopsis reads:
Town Of Runners follows young Ethiopian athletes as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood. In Bekoji, Ethiopia, running is a way of life. Over the past two decades this small, rural town has been the unlikely home to numerous Olympic champion long-distance runners, whose athletic success has paved the way for young Ethiopians searching for a better life. Among the current group training under renowned coach Sentayehu Eshetu (whose protégé Derartu Tulu was the first African woman to win Olympic gold) are Alemi and Hawii, two teenage girls looking to set themselves apart from their teammates in Bekoji and move on to compete at the national level.
The project was one of 27 new films awarded $490,000 in grant money by the Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program and Fund.
Specifically, the so-called "Audience Engagement" award given to this project will go towards supporting the filmmakers and partners as they work to expand the work of the coach by developing three assistant coach positions; developing a ʻVisit and Trainʼ program for foreign athletes which might bring income and employment to the town; developing new opportunities for Bekoji's athletes as guides and coaches for foreign athletes; and creating a library resource centre in the town as a focus for this work.
So it's more than just a film; it's a movement.
The film screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in April this year (I missed it), and played in UK cinemas as well, and it's also in the UK where the DVD is available for sale. So our UK readers are likely familiar.
It continues to play the international film festival circuit, but no word on any official further theatrical releases. When I know more, so will you.
In relation to the post above, Casualties of the Caribbean Slave Trade: 5,000 Bodies Found on Remote Island of Saint Helena, I wanted to bring attention to this new book, Infernal Traffic: Excavation of a Liberated African Graveyard in Rupert’s Valley, St Helena (Council for British Archaeology, 2012) by Andrew Pearson, Ben Jeffs, Annsofie Witkin, and Helen MacQuarrie. Infernal Traffic is a book about St Helena’s central role in the liberation of Africans aboard illegal slave-running vessels between 1840 and 1872. It also describes the first archaeological excavation on this historic British island—and, according to St Helena Online, the only substantial dig relating to the notorious Middle Passage of the Atlantic slave trade.
Description: Britain’s abolition of the slave trade in 1807 did not end the traffic of human beings across the Atlantic. Indeed, for many decades to come, hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans continued to be shipped into slavery. From 1840 to 1872 the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena played a pivotal role in Britain’s efforts to suppress the slave trade, and over this time it received over 25,000 ‘liberated Africans’, taken from slave ships by Royal Navy patrols. Conditions aboard the slavers were appalling, and many did not survive the journey. Rupert’s Valley therefore became a graveyard to many thousands of Africans – ‘a valley of dry bones’ in the words of a visiting missionary. In 2008, archaeological excavations uncovered a small part of that graveyard, revealing the burials of over 300 victims of the slave trade. It was disposal on a massive scale, with the dead interred in a combination of single, multiple and mass graves. This book presents the finding of the archaeological and osteological study, and in so doing brings the inhumanity of the slave trade into vivid focus. It tells the story of a group of children and young adults who had lived in Africa only a few weeks prior to their death on St Helena, and whose remains bear witness to the cruelty of their transportation. However, the archaeology also shows them as more than just victims, but also as individuals with a sense of their own identity and culture.
For more on the dig, the book, and the very moving history of St Helena and the slave trade by Mark Horton, see
Soul man Gerald Levert had an auspicious childhood as the son of R&B legend Eddie Levert, the lead singer of the O'Jays, and the choice gene pool seemed to kick in at an early age. While still a teenager, Levert joined with brother Sean and friend Marc Gordon to form the soul group LeVert and, after one independent release, signed with Atlantic Records in 1985.
Gerald's voice was a near dead-ringer for his father's distinctive, growling baritone, and his engaging lead took the group to the top of the Soul charts with "Pop Goes My Mind" and followed the next year with the top five Pop and Soul Atlantic single, "Casanova," an infectious midtempo tune written for the group by Midnight Star's Calloway brothers that elevated LeVert to the top of the late 80s Soul music pyramid.
Gerald was developing as a songwriter and vocalist, and fronted LeVert through a string of top Soul hits over the next few years, including #1s "My Forever Love," "Just Coolin'" and "Baby I'm Ready." However, his development also moved him into a first-among-equals status that invariably led to a solo singing career. He branched out in 1991 with his solo debut, Private Line, and topped the Soul charts with the title track. Even better was his duet with his father Eddie on "Baby Hold On To Me," a phenomenal ballad that was one of 1992's most memorable songs and which led to their 1994 album of duets, Father and Son.
Over the remainder of the decade Gerald continued to score big on the Soul charts, while only infrequently crossing over (most notably on the bland David Foster ballad "I'd Give Anything"). However, as the turn of the century hit, Gerald's audience grew older and less tuned into hit radio, and he developed into more of an album artist. He remained incredibly prolific through the next half decade, releasing a new album annually and landing in the Soul and Pop 10 with each disc. He also provided quality songs and/or vocal help to a slew of other performers, including Patti LaBelle and Yolanda Adams, and was part of a popular but artistically disappointing 2-album stint with singers Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat in the macho, sexed-up group LSG.
In 2005, Gerald Levert compiled a number of his strongest duets with other artists as well as songs with LSG and a few new recordings on the CD Voices. For LeVert fans, Voices served as a nice compilation of some of LeVert's notable work outside of his solo albums, including great cuts with the Rude Boys ("Written All Over Your Face"), LSG ("My Side of the Bed") and Kelly Price ("All I Want Is You"). And for the uninitiated, it was a fine introduction to Gerald Levert as a songwriter and vocalist.
While Gerald Levert's catalog is of varying quality, he certainly demonstrated himself as a capable songwriter and a consistently strong vocalist. He also showed impressive longevity during a particularly fickled period in popular music and remained at the top of his game for two decades.
Sadly, on November 10, 2006, Gerald died of a heart attack while sleeping. His final recordings were released in February 2007 under the title In My Songs. In February 2008, Levert won a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for In My Songs. His legacy has grown since his early death, as dozens of popular new artists cite him as an influence and a generation of R&B fans continue to celebrate his marvelous career.
Deadline: 30 September 2012Shah Peerally Law Group PC, AttorneyOnAir.com and the Shah Peerally Productions are proud to launch an essay competition. The essay competition is opened to anybody above 15 years old and the essays will be posted on the blog www.ImmigrationLegalBlog.com. Voters will be able to LIKE and comment on the essay on http://facebook.com/attorneyonairThe essays with most likes will be selected first and then attorney Shah Peerally Law Group PC’s team will be judging the best 10 essays.PRIZES
First Prize – $250 Cash prize plus a 15 minutes telephonic live interview on KLOK 1170 AM
Second Prize – $150 Cash prize; and
Third Prize – $ 100 Cash prize.
All essays will become the property of the Shah Peerally Law Group PC with credit given to the authors. The First to Third Place essays will be published on www.PeerallyLaw.com
Anybody above 15 are asked to write an original and creative essay of 1,000 words or less that demonstrate their views on Immigration issues. Contestants should use at least 2 varied sources such as newspaper articles, books, and/or personal interviews to address the following topic:Describe and analyze an issue related to the United States Immigration. Include an analysis of the difficulties, fortune, or experience of the immigrants either social or financial. The essay should be original and cannot be copied from any place.All submissions must adhere to contest requirements mentioned below:ELIGIBILITY: The contest is open to the world and must be in English. Only contestants above 15 are eligible to participate. Shah Peerally Law Group PC and its affiliates reserve the right to deny publication or participation to any individual or contestant at its discretion.REQUIREMENTS
The contest will be closing on September 30 2012.
Essays can be no more than 1,500 words.
Essays must be the original work of the contestant.
Contestants can submit a maximum of 3 essays per person.
Essays should cover an immigration issue including any social issue, interview or financial issue.
Essays with large portion copied from other contents will be disqualified
Essays must have a minimum of 2 outside sources or interviews.
Essays should be submitted in word documents by an email confirming this is an original essay.
Contestants are required to include their names, addresses, email and phone number inside the document. No hyperlink is allowed
Essays should be in English language only.
SOURCE MATERIAL
Essays with fewer than 2 listed sources will be disqualified.
All participants must cite sources they used to research their topic throughout their essay. Please use parenthetical citations within the text. .
ESSAY SUBMISSION: Contestants should be emailing their essay at radio@peerallylaw.com. All contestants must add on the bottom on their essays: “I declare that this is my original work and I declare I am above 15 years old” – and print their name, address and telephone number on the bottom of their essays.
Shah Peerally Law Group PC, AttorneyOnAir.com and the Shah Peerally Productions are proud to launch an essay competition. The essay competition is opened to anybody above 15 years old and the essays will be posted on the blog www.ImmigrationLegalBlog.com. Voters will be able to LIKE and comment on the essay on http://facebook.com/attorneyonair
The essays with most likes will be selected first and then attorney Shah Peerally Law Group PC’s team will be judging the best 10 essays.
PRIZES
First Prize – $250 Cash prize plus a 15 minutes telephonic live interview on KLOK 1170 AM
Second Prize – $150 Cash prize; and
Third Prize – $ 100 Cash prize.
All essays will become the property of the Shah Peerally Law Group PC with credit given to the authors. The First to Third Place essays will be published on www.PeerallyLaw.com
Anybody above 15 are asked to write an original and creative essay of 1,000 words or less that demonstrate their views on Immigration issues. Contestants should use at least 2 varied sources such as newspaper articles, books, and/or personal interviews to address the following topic:
Describe and analyze an issue related to the United States Immigration. Include an analysis of the difficulties, fortune, or experience of the immigrants either social or financial. The essay should be original and cannot be copied from any place.
All submissions must adhere to contest requirements mentioned below:
ELIGIBILITY: The contest is open to the world and must be in English. Only contestants above 15 are eligible to participate. Shah Peerally Law Group PC and its affiliates reserve the right to deny publication or participation to any individual or contestant at its discretion.
REQUIREMENTS
The contest will be closing on September 30 2012.
Essays can be no more than 1,500 words.
Essays must be the original work of the contestant.
Contestants can submit a maximum of 3 essays per person.
Essays should cover an immigration issue including any social issue, interview or financial issue.
Essays with large portion copied from other contents will be disqualified
Essays must have a minimum of 2 outside sources or interviews.
Essays should be submitted in word documents by an email confirming this is an original essay.
Contestants are required to include their names, addresses, email and phone number inside the document. No hyperlink is allowed
Essays should be in English language only.
SOURCE MATERIAL
Essays with fewer than 2 listed sources will be disqualified.
All participants must cite sources they used to research their topic throughout their essay. Please use parenthetical citations within the text. .
ESSAY SUBMISSION: Contestants should be emailing their essay at radio@peerallylaw.com. All contestants must add on the bottom on their essays: “I declare that this is my original work and I declare I am above 15 years old” – and print their name, address and telephone number on the bottom of their essays.
We publish African writers only (writers born in Africa, or having domiciled in for over 10 years, and/or holding citizenship in an African country). If that's you, we welcome you to submit in all fiction genres. The submitted work must be an original work, nothing that infringes the copyright of, or is derived from, another author's work of fiction, is overly lewd, hate speech, etc.
We are open for submissions year-round, but will only review and select submissions over August each year.
Works submitted may be: Fictional short stories only.
Size limit: 1500 - 8000
1) Must be unpublished (not previously published in print or online).
2) No simultaneous submissions (only submitted to this anthology and no other publications).
3) No multiple submissions (submit only one work in each year).
4) Word count limits: 1500 - 8000 words
5) Submission format: single line spaced, font Times New Roman 12pt, no indents, and written in UK English.
6) There are quite a few overused themes we've seen too much of like suicide, job interviews, AIDS, and child soldiers, etc. This doesn't mean you can't enter stories with these themes, but unless they are approached in new and unique ways it's unlikely we will select them.
Shah Peerally Law Group PC, AttorneyOnAir.com and the Shah Peerally Productions are proud to launch an essay competition. The essay competition is opened to anybody above 15 years old and the essays will be posted on the blog www.ImmigrationLegalBlog.com. Voters will be able to LIKE and comment on the essay on http://facebook.com/attorneyonair
The essays with most likes will be selected first and then attorney Shah Peerally Law Group PC’s team will be judging the best 10 essays.
PRIZES
First Prize – $250 Cash prize plus a 15 minutes telephonic live interview on KLOK 1170 AM
Second Prize – $150 Cash prize; and
Third Prize – $ 100 Cash prize.
All essays will become the property of the Shah Peerally Law Group PC with credit given to the authors. The First to Third Place essays will be published on www.PeerallyLaw.com
Anybody above 15 are asked to write an original and creative essay of 1,000 words or less that demonstrate their views on Immigration issues. Contestants should use at least 2 varied sources such as newspaper articles, books, and/or personal interviews to address the following topic:
Describe and analyze an issue related to the United States Immigration. Include an analysis of the difficulties, fortune, or experience of the immigrants either social or financial. The essay should be original and cannot be copied from any place.
All submissions must adhere to contest requirements mentioned below:
ELIGIBILITY: The contest is open to the world and must be in English. Only contestants above 15 are eligible to participate. Shah Peerally Law Group PC and its affiliates reserve the right to deny publication or participation to any individual or contestant at its discretion.
REQUIREMENTS
The contest will be closing on September 30 2012.
Essays can be no more than 1,500 words.
Essays must be the original work of the contestant.
Contestants can submit a maximum of 3 essays per person.
Essays should cover an immigration issue including any social issue, interview or financial issue.
Essays with large portion copied from other contents will be disqualified
Essays must have a minimum of 2 outside sources or interviews.
Essays should be submitted in word documents by an email confirming this is an original essay.
Contestants are required to include their names, addresses, email and phone number inside the document. No hyperlink is allowed
Essays should be in English language only.
SOURCE MATERIAL
Essays with fewer than 2 listed sources will be disqualified.
All participants must cite sources they used to research their topic throughout their essay. Please use parenthetical citations within the text. .
ESSAY SUBMISSION: Contestants should be emailing their essay at radio@peerallylaw.com. All contestants must add on the bottom on their essays: “I declare that this is my original work and I declare I am above 15 years old” – and print their name, address and telephone number on the bottom of their essays.
