The inspirational 54-min documentary Healing Neen, directed by Laura Cain and produced by Cain and Thom Stromer, the latter who serves as the film's editor, will be screening at the United Film Festival in New York on May 12, 2012. Neen won the Director's Award at the Hearts and Minds Film Festival in Wilmington, DE in April of last year, and was the New Hope prize winner at Pennsylvania's New Hope Film Festival in July of last year.
The doc follows Tonier "Neen" Cain, who after a childhood of trauma, stemming from her mother's neglection due to her crack-addiction, is now a spokesperson for National Center for Trauma-Informed Care. I watched it in its entirety last night; and wow, it's truly an amazing story, which gives a new meaning to faith, strength and the power of change and transformation. You can hardly believe the Tonier Cain today is the same woman once drug-addicted, incarcerated most of her adult life and disregarded as mentally ill.
Here's more about the film:
Healing Neen takes viewers on a journey to places and subjects that most find too difficult or uncomfortable to fathom. But it is Tonier “Neen” Cain’s joyous spirit and astonishing inner-strength that leaps through the screen directly into viewers hearts, inspiring renewed hope and compassion for those still living on the fringes.
For two decades, Neen hustled on the streets of Annapolis, Maryland, desperately feeding an insatiable crack addiction and racking up 83 arrests along the way. Rapes and beatings were a routine part of life; home was underneath a bridge or inside the locked cage of a prison. In 2004, pregnant and incarcerated for violation of parole, she was provided the opportunity to go to a community trauma, mental health and addictions program.
Feeling safe for the first time in her life, Neen confronted the haunting childhood memories that she tried to numb with drugs: filth and chronic hunger, sexual assaults by neighborhood men, routine physical and mental abuse dished out by her drunken mother. Realizing for the first time that she had been a victim, she began to heal and reclaim power over her life, embarking on a remarkable “upward spiral,” that has no limit. Today, she works for the National Center for Trauma-Informed Care, dedicating her life to being a voice for those still lost and still silent. Traveling the country to give speeches and work one on one with women in prisons and hospitals, Neen continues to transform her own life while helping others to embrace her motto “where there’s breath, there’s hope.”
The doc is available for purchase at the film's website HERE.
Centuries BEFORE the coming of Islam and before the days of the Songhay, Mali and Ghana Empires (and thus before Timbuktu was built), there were some massive cities in the Niger basin region which rivalled those of Mesopotamia.
Paula Lima is the queen of a style known as Samba-Rock or Samba Soul, a sophisticated mixture of Brazilian Samba with elements of American Soul, Funk and sometimes Disco*.
Lima, born in São Paulo in 1970, is a singer/songwriter whose style is influenced by Bossa Nova, Samba, Brazilian Soul, and international funk music. She was one of judges of Brazilian Idol, and Ídolos Brazil (Season 3 and Season 4) Brazilian styled takes on the American Idol brand.
Lima's career started a little by chance but she had been involved in different school festivals. In 1992 she joined her firs band, the "Unidade Móvel", which later became "Unidade Bop". In 1995 she was invited to sing in a Samba, Rock, Funk and Soul band, led by Skowa. Lima lists her influences to be Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Elza Soares, Ed Motta, Gilberto Gil, Banda Black Rio and Jorge Benjor. She also played Grizabella's role in the stage for both São Paulo's and Rio de Janeiro's productions of Cats in 2010.
Discography
Sinceramente (2006)
Paula Lima (2003)
Diva Paulista (Europe, 2003)
É isso aí (2001)
Stayed tuned to Black Women of Brazil for a more in depth article featuring Paula Lima. For now, check out the slinky rhythm of "SambaChic".
Afropop Worlwide producer, Wills Glasspiegel had the chance to sit down with Congolese MC, Baloji during his recent visit to Brooklyn. Here’s what transpired.
How’s New York treating you?
New York is an amazing city, especially from a hiphop perspective. It’s one of the few places on earth where you can see that hiphop is part of the culture, not just something that you watch on TV. New York is also the epicenter of a lot of other musical stuff; it’s a key place. But of course I know that for me, doing music that is mostly in French – not in some Congolese language that sounds exotic for European or at least western people – it’s a difficult market. I take everything that happens here like a plus one because in a way, I’m not supposed to be here.
In your song, “Independence Cha-Cha,” there is a line which says something along the lines of “gold is turning into lead”. Can you explain that lyric?
Normally it’s the opposite – you turn lead to gold. In Congo, we had gold, but we turned it to something that had no value because we didn’t treat our country with the right respect. I think we have our share of responsibility. It’s a special song because we worked on it for the 50th anniversary of independence. It is about the Congolese’s own responsibility for what happened in the country.
Since we’re speaking in English, would you mind telling me about the decision to not include songs that are in English on your last record?
I think I don’t speak English good enough to make music in English. You have to write it properly, and you have to spell it in the right way, otherwise you sound stupid. It’s like listening to Fat Joe singing in Spanish, rapping in Spanish, and he doesn’t really pronounce the words right. You might feel disturbed. You might be like – “hmmm that’s not real.” I have an issue with that. Some people say, though, that you have to go for English because you will be limited as a French act, one that just got let in because the video looked good.
As a hip-hop artist, how do you negotiate the challenge of working with a genre that started here in New York? How do you give it roots and how you do you think artists are doing that successfully across the continent?
What led me to do this is having a hiphop perspective. My parents listened to Franco and I hated it. But after growing up, you find some connection to what you once hated. You listen to a lot of jazz; you feel a jazz feeling in the Congolese sixties music like Franco. Then you can reconnect to it. I love a song by Ghostface Killah that’s based on a song by the Delfonics. You just hear the needle, then they put on the song: "La la means I love you." It’s a really classic song and on every break when they don’t sing, Ghostface raps. That’s basically where hip-hop comes from. That is what I try to do with antiphonal structure, to do something like that, to do something that is part of my heritage, and something that I grew up listening to.
It’s as if the space for hip-hop was already there, and you’re just filling in the blanks?
Yes, it was already there, even the rap flow. I’m from Katanga, from Congo and there already a two hundred year old tradition of griot, of people talking on the music, and they are amazing rappers! Technically, rhythmically amazing. They never call it rap, but it is almost the same. And they have this tradition of ambiancer – it’s basically MCing. They were just animating a party, just repeating some small phrase, some gimmick, and it’s really close to hip-hop. I heard them everywhere and they’ve been in Congo for the past fifty years. And they’re busy! So when Franco performed, he always had someone there just to animate. Like you have in a dancehall music, someone was telling the audience, now this is the move, left right left, do this do this, this is the movement, moto, moto, etc. Some rhythmic stuff that you do to push people to dance. Just like you do in reggae and other styles with Jamaican vibes.
I’m curious about your flow, about the way you compose and fit inside songs. Could you exploain how you started rapping over songs that didn’t have rap in them, and how you developed your flow and timing?
I was in a rap group with these three guys from Colombia. We listened to salsa music, La Fania, old-school stuff, Puerto Rican music. They always told me that if you’re a rapper, you have to adapt to any rhythm. They had me rapping to an Augustus Pablo album because there was hardly any singing on it.. They just put on the record and I’d rap on it. At first, I was like, come on, I need a boom bap or something, but then the more I did it, the more I felt at ease with it. I could feel my voice like an instrument, like percussion actually, as part of the mix.
On your newest record, Kinshasa Succursale, you managed an incredible work of A&R-ing; you brought together so many different artists including historic artists from the Congo. Getting people in the studio is not an easy thing, and getting them to collaborate is not an easy thing. And it can be an expensive thing. Can you tell me a bit about that process, and how you managed to put this thing together, and what some of the challenges were in doing so?
I’m going to give you a really cheesy answer, a really hip-hop answer: It has a lot to do with money, power, and respect. Money, because when you pay the people, they are more willing to work with you; that’s something we can’t lie about. And respect really is key because when someone from the diaspora comes back to Congo, they always act like they know better, but for us, recording there in Congo, we were just humble. We learned so many good things from these old Congolese musicians. There was a lot of respect. And as for power, our power came from saying that we want to do something that is not cliché; we want to have something that we can share together; this may be my idea, but let’s build it up – if you have something, let’s go. We share the rights to the song; we share everything. In African music, the publishing rights are a big issue. Few people have the publishing rights to their songs, and that’s a mark of respect for people, sharing those rights. I also paid everybody. I paid everybody. You know how it works – people don’t want promises. People don’t take promises.
So you took a lot of risk in putting this together.
Yeah. It’s a crazy record. We did this in 2009. I was on a label called EMI. They got the record, and they said no fucking way, we are never going to release that piece of shit because you are only going to sell fifty copies to the Congolese people in the Congolese neighborhoods in Brussels and that’s it. I went to my publisher and he told me, just bring in some western African big names, like the Amadou and Mariam, and Magic System, and all this party kind of music. You know, the big names. The Youssou N'Dours. Because this is way too dark, and we cannot release it. So I was really pissed off because I did this record in seven days, and we worked like crazy and we were so happy with the result, with what we learned from that record. It was just a great experience.
Seven days?
Just because we didn’t have the money! We did fifteen songs in seven days, like crazy. We stayed there eight days. And nobody wanted to take the record. So I sent it to all the cool labels and nobody took it. So I decided that to make the vision more clear, I had to make videos. So I produced the videos, and we put everything together with the videos, and we sent it again to all the cool labels, all the cool people that you know, that we all know. And they said, “nice video, but no thanks.” So I was just fucked with my record and my expensive videos that I produced by myself. And then I started to look for concerts. Luckily for me I had the chance to work with Blitz the Ambassador and his people. They made me come to New York for a showcase, and with the showcase we found a booker here.You hear all the time, people saying, “use the Internet and as long as you are on iTunes, you’re good.” But you still need a promo guy. So we kept on searching. Somebody said, “why you don’t try Crammed?” Then we talked with them, and they agreed to release the album. When they released the album, we got nice reviews in the UK and the cool labels called back! It’s stupid.
You mostly live in Belgium now. Could you ever see yourself moving back to Congo if the circumstances were right?
Yeah. The big difference is that you don’t have wifi. That’s the biggest difference. The internet, that’s it. Artistically speaking, that’s the difference between South Africa or Nigeria and other places in Africa. They have internet access so they can share ideas and vision with the rest of the world, and that means that the gap between these African countries and the rest of the world is shrinking.
Have you performed much in Congo and what is that like for you when you do?
We did a big tour last summer, and maybe we are going to play again in June. Yeah, we did a big tour. It was for a month and it was a nice experience.
Did people embrace your music there? Do you see that as an important audience for you, or are you more outward-facing?
No. It’s really important, especially because the album was made in Kinshasa. And it was really important to play it there live and with the guests off the record. But to be really honest with you, we had to face the fact that Congolese music is kind of suffering. It’s like the Cuban embargo. There is basically one kind of music that people listen to – the Soukous, the ndombolo as they call it, which is the main music. They really have a small window, so we had to face that. Like wow – we asked them to listen to something different that they are not used to hearing. We also played the game of piracy. We went to markets, shops; you just give it and people make copies, just like that. We didn’t ask for money. They are not gonna pay for this music, but at least they know that there is something different that it is possible to listen to.
Are there any Congolese rappers today that you are excited about, that you would like to collaborate with?
There is this guy, Larousse Marciano, who is amazing.
Is he popular out there?
Not enough because he is not doing typical music, but he is amazing. Congolese still listen to the same old music. It’s like Cuba. Nothing has changed, and they don’t have other music that can enter. The only one is the Ivory Coast version of old school Soukous, a Coupe-Decale thing. That may be the only thing that can get in the mix.
What about house music?
House, yeah. It’s slowly getting in. I mean the Nigerian scene is releasing some great stuff.
Konono No 1’s contribution to your record sounds like traditional trance music. Even the Konono No 1’s dancers, when I first saw them, they were going into a mild state of trance. I wonder how trance relates to your process.
I’m from Belgium! Holland is the country of trance music. So I grew up listening to this “new beat.” Do you remember it? You have to check new beat! It is close to a Detroit vibe; you have one line that goes for ten minutes straight. And Konono and all these groups, traditional bands, are playing one line for five-hours as everyone gets to the mic. So there are definitely some similarities.
Is that connected to the spiritual images in your videos?
The album cover that we have now is not the original cover. I prefer the original cover because if you don’t know the story of the record, on the new one, it looks like a Christian record; it looks like I’m getting baptized. But I do like it because it’s related to the video for “Karibu Ya Bintou” . The whole idea with this Baloji project is related to the fact that my name “Baloji” shocked a lot of people in the Congo because it means sorcerers. Actually, Baloji means a group of sorcerers. Everywhere I go in the Congo, especially when I did the tour last year, everyone was like “you need to change your name and get baptized right away, or else you will carry the sorcerer with you, the bad force with you.” I didn’t get baptized, but I can show them the cover.
What was the cover meant to signify? Was it meant to signify getting baptized?
The song was meant to be talking about the fact that sorcerer means something bad nowadays because of Christians, but historically it meant just someone who was a man of science. Before the Christians, “baloji” was doing good and bad science. After the Christians, Baloji related only to the bad and Christianity to the good. With my name, I’m saying that we are all wearing a mask. We are all into this game, but if you believe in it, you can get trapped. If people believe that you are in this box, and you treat your self as in this box, you get trapped.
When people think about the Congo today in the US, and hear your music as a connection both to Belgium and the Congo, what do you think they should be thinking about?
Tomorrow we are in Brazil for three weeks, and I think that Brazil is the mirror country to the Congo because of the forests and because they are on the same level on the equator. We can learn a lot from Brazil because they had a dictator, and now they’re on the rise. We can learn from them. We can make people see the Congo in a new light.
We look forward to discovering great literature and encourage all writers to submit their work. Literary Laundry rejects the belief that authors must pay in order to have their work read. We therefore require no submission fee.
Literary Laundry Competitions
Each issue of Literary Laundry is accompanied by a writing competition. All pieces submitted to us for review will be entered into consideration for our Awards of Distinction. We offer the following cash awards:
$500 for best poem $500 for best short story $250 for best one-act drama
In addition to considering undergraduate works for the Awards of Distinction, we will also consider them for the following undergraduate awards:
$250 for best poem $250 for best short story
Lastly, each issue of Literary Laundry will feature the work of one visual artist. The "Featured Artist" will receive an award of $100.
Submissions for our fifth issue are due June 1, 2012. There is no fee to submit.
The Literary Laundry Chapbook Series: Poetry Books, Novellas, and Short Story Collections
Literary Laundry is now publishing (in print) poetry chapbooks, novellas, and short story collections. Authors selected for publication will receive $250 in upfront payment and 33% of all royalties earned on sales.
Submissions for the series is rolling. There is no fee to submit.
See the submission policies below for further details.
Literary Laundry Submission Policies
In order to submit work to either the journal or the showcase, authors must subscribe to Literary Laundry and create an account with username and password.
Authors may submit only one work per category during each review cycle. Authors can, however, submit work in multiple categories during one review cycle.
Poets may submit up to three pages of poetry. It does not matter to us whether we receive one three page poem or many short poems on three pages. Poems, however, must be submitted in one document. This document should not be formatted with multiple columns to a page unless such formatting is integral to the endeavors of the poem.
Authors submitting prose fiction may submit one short story (or one chapter from a larger piece) per review cycle. We ask that submissions be single-spaced and kept to less than 10 pages single-space.
Authors submitting one-act drama may submit one piece per review cycle. We ask that submissions be single-spaced and kept to less than 15 pages single-spaced.
Submissions should be formatted using 1 inch margins and a minimum font size of 11 points. Of course, if formatting manipulation is required by the artistic aims of the piece, it is permissible.
Authors must include a cover letter as a preface to their submission. This cover letter should contain a one paragraph biography and a one to two paragraph “abstract” explaining why the writing submitted is intellectually evocative or of interest to a contemporary audience. This cover letter should be included in the document submitted.
Undergraduates should indiciate their school, year of study, field of study, and undergraduate status beneath their signature on the cover letter. The Signature should be formatted as follows:
Name University, Class of (Year) B.A./B.S. Candidate in (Field of Study) Undergraduate
Failure to provide such details in the cover letter signature may jeopardize consideration for undergraduate awards.
We welcome work that does not conventionally fall in one of these three genres. Please submit the work to the genre of your preference and explain its form in the abstract.
All submissions must be previously unpublished.
In order to submit work to Literary Laundry, authors must subscribe to the journal and create an account with username and password.
Literary Laundry is committed to ensuring that authors retain full rights to their submissions. Literary Laundry will reproduce accepted works only for publication in the issue's print retrospect. We merely request that pieces selected for publication not appear in other literary journals within 18 months of online publication by Literary Laundry. If a work published on Literary Laundry is published again in the future, we ask for an acknowledgment that the piece first appeared in Literary Laundry.
Featured Artists should submit between 8-10 works in their portfolio. Not all works from the accepted portfolio will be published.
Images should be submitted as JPEG files.
All artists must provide a biography of approximately 1-2 paragraphs.
All portfolios must be accompanied by an "abstract" of approximately 250-350 words. The abstract should describe the artist's inspirations and aspirations, style and substance. The abstract presents an opportunity for the artist to explain the intricacies of his/her work to the Literary Laundry readership. It will be published in the journal on the "Featured Artist" page.
The Editors reserve the right to modify abstracts before publication on the "Featured Artist" page.
Authors must include a biography (picture is optional but would be preferred).
Authors must include an “abstract” explaining both the aesthetic character of their writing in general, and why the particular pieces submitted for showcase exemplify their endeavors. This "abstract" should also detail why submitted work is intellectually evocative or of interest to a contemporary audience. It should be approximately 300 words.
Authors submitting only poetry for showcase should submit between 8 and 10 works. At least 3 must be previously unpublished.
Authors submitting only prose fiction for showcase should submit between 3 and 4 short stories (or chapters from larger works). At least one must be previously unpublished.
Authors submitting only one-act drama may submit between 3 and 4 pieces. At least one must be previously unpublished.
Authors wishing to submit in multiple categories may submit a total of 10 pieces. Of these 10 works, no more than 4 can be prose-fiction or one-act drama. At least 1/3 of submissions must be previously unpublished.
Authors must indicate which pieces are previously published and which are previously unpublished. Authors must identify the place and time of publication for previously published work.
Please submit your chapbook as a PDF. The book interior should be formatted exactly as the author (you) would like to see it published.
Files should be formatted to trim size 5.5'' x 8.5''
Length requirements:
Poetry books should not exceed 75 pages. This count includes table of contents, prose introduction, author biography, and any necessary appendices.
Novellas and short story collections should be between 10,000 and 30,000 words in length.
Each chapbook should contain a 3-5 page, single-spaced prose introduction that reflects upon the book's aesthetic aspirations. (Note: Because this introduction will be written in 5.5'' x 8.5'' trim, it will be much shorter than 3-5 pages in a standard document).
All books should contain a table of contents.
With the exception of the introduction, authors are free to format the remainder of their chapbook however they choose.
Poetry books
Poetry chapbooks may contain images, in either color or black and white.
Poems may be formatted in any fonts, colors, justifications, etc.
Prose books
Novellas and short story collections may be formatted in any fonts or justifications. They cannot, however, contain color.
Please include a table of contents if the manuscript is divided into multiple sections or stories.
Authors may include appendices as they see fit.
Previous Publication:
Poetry chapbooks must contain at least 10 previously unpublished poems. Previously published poems should be noted on an appendix page that lists which poems were previously published and where.
At least half of the stories in a short story collection must be previously unpublished.
All novella submissions must be previously unpublished.
Any previously published work should be noted on an “Acknowledgements” page (which stipulates where and when the piece was originally published).
All manuscripts must include an author biography at the end of the book. This biography should be less than a page in length. Personal photo may be included (though this is optional).
Books selected for publication will receive $250 in upfront payment and 33% of all royalties earned on sales.
Please do not query until 6 months following submission.
Does Literary Laundry accept submissions from authors of all ages?
Yes. Though we receive many submissions from students (both undergraduate and graduate), a substantial portion of our submissions come from non-students. We understand that masterful writing transcends age. As such, we encourage all writers to submit.
Does Literary Laundry accept submissions from outside the United States?
Yes. We love to read these works as well.
Does Literary Laundry accept work written in languages other than English?
No. We will, however, accept work translated into English. If we select for publication a poem translated into English, we will happily publish the original text beside it.
How strictly should submissions adhere to the submissions guidelines?
Quite simply, the answer is strictly. Submissions that lack cover letters or submissions that flagrantly violate page length/formatting regulations risk disqualification from our competition.
The Literary Laundry Editors want, first and foremost, to facilitate literary exchange. Poetry submission that run 3.5 pages or short stories that run 11 pages, for example, are unlikely to upset anybody. That said, authors enter such waters at their own risk.
Many of Literary Laundry's editors hail from Stanford. What is the relationship between the journal and the school?
Literary Laundry is not affiliated with Stanford University in any official capacity. Many members of our editorial team possess personal connections to the university because the Executive Editors created the journal while studying together at Stanford.
Literary Laundry operates independently of any external affiliation. It is managed entirely by its editorial team.
Deadlines and the Literary Laundry Calendar
Submissions for our fifth journal issue are due June 1, 2012.
Submissions for our ninth Showcase are due June 20, 2012.
Literary Laundry strives to be accessible and writer-friendly. Nonetheless, our primary aims are fast turn-around and the production of a high-quality journal. We do not intend to hold your work for longer than one journal cycle. All submitters to a particular issue will be notified within 6 months following the release of the prior issue.
If you submit work to Literary Laundry, you will receive either an acceptance e-mail or a notification that the new issue has been published. We attempt to announce publication releases within 24 hours of loading the journal online. We assume that our submitters support Literary Laundry's desire to showcase masterful and intellectually engaging works of creative writing. Rather than "reject," we invite our submitters to read the journal and discuss it on the site.
Last, but not least…
Literary Laundry wants to help promote your writing. Periodically, we will nominate works published in our journal for consideration by:
This Award of $1000 also includes book publication by The Bitter Oleander Press and replaces the Frances Locke Memorial Poetry Award (1997-2011)
• An award of $1000 plus book publication of the winning manuscript is open to anyone writing in the English language who has published (not self-published) at least one standard edition of poetry. It is not open to employees, relative or friends of The Bitter Oleander Press.
• Translations are not eligible for this award.
• Send your entry only through the US Postal Service. Do not send it certified with a return-request receipt. Include a stamped self-addressed postcard for receipt notification purposes.
• No e-mail submissions will be allowed.
• Manuscripts must be typed and range between 48 and 80 pages of poetry in length.
• Use only binder clips or paper clips. No plastic sheets, hard cover binders or loose-leaf binders.
• Manuscripts should be paginated and include a table of contents.
• Poems having previously appeared in journals, chapbooks or anthologies should be included on a separate page listing those acknowledgments.
• Include two (2) cover sheets: One with title and author's contact information. The other exhibiting the title only. Author's name must not appear anywhere else in this manuscript.
• Manuscripts must be postmarked between and including the dates of May 1st, 2012 to June 15th, 2012. Any early or later entries will be disallowed and entry fees returned.
• Although results will be posted on our web-site, include a self-addressed stamped business size envelope (SASE) for notification of result if you so wish.
• Manuscripts must include an entry, reading, and processing fee of $25.00 Checks or money orders in U.S. funds made out to The Bitter Oleander Press:
• Due to the high volume of entries, all manuscripts will be recycled save for the winning one --All entries can expect notification by the 15th of November, 2012 --Winning entry can expect publication sometime in 2013
• The procedures for this Award follow the strict guidelines set forth by CLMP's (Council of Literary Magazines & Presses) Contest Code of Ethics:
• CLMP's community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to (1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; (2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines--defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and (3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
Any other questions concerning this Award may be forwarded to us by e-mail: info@bitteroleander.com
SEND ENTRIES TO:
The Bitter Oleander Library of Poetry Award--2012 The Bitter Oleander Press 4983 Tall Oaks Drive Fayetteville, New York 13066-9776 USA
PREVIOUS FRANCES LOCKE MEMORIAL POETRY AWARD WINNERS:
We Continue to Honor All 15 of Our Previous Frances Locke Memorial Poetry Award Winners:
(Note: Possible topics may include but are not limited to Gender and queer sexuality, Gendered experiences of people of color, Transgender studies, and Women of color feminisms.)
The National Women's Studies Association and the University of Illinois Press are pleased to announce a competition for the best dissertation or first book manuscript by a single author in the field of women's and gender studies. Applicants must be National Women's Studies Association members.
If a winner of the competition is selected, he or she will receive a publication contract with the University of Illinois Press. Runners up may also be considered for publication with the University of Illinois Press. Submitted dissertations must have been completed and defended after June 1, 2008. All submissions must be postmarked by June 1, 2012, and should include the following materials:
Cover letter
C.V.
Proposal, including a 4-5 page overview of the scope of the project and analysis of competing titles
Complete unbound manuscript, at least 150 double spaced pages, 12 pt. Times New Roman font
Please mention the competition in your cover letter, and also indicate if any material from the manuscript has been previously published. The winner will be announced at NWSA's annual conference.
All submissions must be exclusive submissions to the University of Illinois Press for the duration of the contest, and finalists will be notified by mid-August.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For inquiries/ submissions: direct all questions and submissions to Larin McLaughlin, Senior Acquisitions Editor, University of Illinois Press at larinmc@uillinois.edu
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Mothers in prison
Melissa Harris-Perry follows up on the story of Marissa Alexander, an abused wife and mother who stood up to her husband and fired a single warning shot from her handgun into the ceiling of her home. This week, Alexander was sentenced up to 20 years in jail without parole for her actions, and to discuss the case, Tina Reynolds of “Women On the Rise Telling Her Story,” Rev. Vivian Nixon of “College and Community Fellowship,” and attorney Robin Levi join the show.
“Perhaps the most concerning finding in the CDC report is that people who take antidepressants are taking them long term. About 60% of people had taken the medications for two years or longer, and 14% had taken antidepressants for more than a decade. On its face, that sounds scary, but since depression can be a chronic disorder, and since research shows that maintenance on antidepressants cuts the risk of relapse in half, long-term use can be appropriate. However, as with the vast majority of medications, there is not much research on long-term effects of the drugs and, clearly, such study is needed here.” What Does a 400% Increase in Antidepressant Use Really Mean? Maia Szalavitz http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/20/what-does-a-400-increase-in-antidepressant-prescribing-really-mean/
I often wonder why with the United States rapidly morphing into a blatantly fascist banana republic, more people aren't alarmed, up in arms or active in some kind of resistance movement? Why are most people in the US in a daze? If mainstream media “news” consumption is down shouldn't that mean more people are engaged in critical thinking or analysis on their own given they are not ingesting and internalizing the blatant propaganda and mind numbing lies the corporate media puts out on behalf of the ruling elites? If that seems like a plausible question, then why are most people in this country still walking around like zombies and automatons? I suspect the answer lies not so much in media consumption as causative as that is, but in the mass addiction and doping of Americans with prescription and illicit drugs.
Prescription abuse in the US has sky rocketed in recent years. For all intents and purposes the US is a nation of pill poppers and drug addicts. Not only are we self medicating and anesthetizing ourselves with drugs, this rampant drug abuse is leading to premature death.
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“In 2007, approximately 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States, one death every 19 minutes. Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States. The increase in unintentional drug overdose death rates in recent years (Figure 1) has been driven by increased use of a class of prescription drugs called opioid analgesics (1). Since 2003, more overdose deaths have involved opioid analgesics than heroin and cocaine combined (Figure 2) (1). In addition, for every unintentional overdose death related to an opioid analgesic, nine persons are admitted for substance abuse treatment (2), 35 visit emergency departments (3), 161 report drug abuse or dependence, and 461 report nonmedical uses of opioid analgesics (4). Implementing strategies that target those persons at greatest risk will require strong coordination and collaboration at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels, as well as engagement of parents, youth influencers, health-care professionals, and policy-makers.” CDC Grand Rounds: Prescription Drug Overdoses — a U.S. Epidemic http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6101a3.htm
Please visit the Website to view the charts and figures that buttress these facts.
I believe this is why people are so acquiescent to the moral, social and economic collapse of AmeriKKKa. The pandemic abuse of prescription as well as illicit drugs in this country is having a debilitating impact on our psyches. Drug abuse undermines the quality of our lives and our physical health. Of course Big Pharma is not going to tell us this and the US Food and Drug Administration is merely an appendage and rubber stamp for the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry. More and more studies are revealing that prescription drug addiction is rampant and dangerous.
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“A number of prescription medicines have mental side effects, such as mood changes, confusion and even hallucinations. A common example is oxycodone, a medication prescribed for moderate to severe pain relief. Some patients who take the drug report mood changes and hallucinations, along with withdrawal symptoms when they stop the medication [source: National Library of Medicine]. Patients also report a side effect with oxycodone that is common with many narcotics: addiction. It is becoming more common for people to misuse prescription drugs, becoming addicted to painkillers, sedatives or stimulants. People believe that because the drugs are prescribed by doctors, it is OK to continue using them, even though they are not being used as intended [source: NIDA].The drugs pramipexole and mefloquine have been known to cause visual or auditory hallucinations. Pramipexole is used to treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and mefloquine is a malaria treatment. According to Tamas Bartfai and Graham V. Lees, authors of Drug Discovery: From Bedside to Wall Street, users of pramipexole reported frightening hallucinations. Doctors affirm, however, that these side effects are less severe than the symptoms of Parkinson's itself. Mefloquine was once regularly used by the U.S. Army to treat and prevent malaria. Patients who took the drug reported hallucinations and violent psychotic behaviors [source: CBS News]. Drugs such as these should be taken under strict medical supervision.” Can prescription drugs cause psychological side effects? http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/prescription-drugs-psychological-side-effects
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“While almost every kind of prescription drug can be abused there are some kinds that are abused more than others. These types of drugs are opioids (painkillers), stimulants, and central nervous system (CSN) depressants (antidepressants). Opioids are basically pain relievers and are also called narcotic analgesics. They are taken for the reduction of pain and are not to be taken for an extended period of time. They are a type of prescription drug that can be taken by injection and orally. There are many types of opioids, but the ones that are most commonly abused for people that suffer from prescription drug addiction are Vicodin, OxyContin, and Demoral. CSN depressants are basically antidepressants are prescribed to people that have anxiety, have trouble sleeping, have panic attacks, or are depressed. These types of drugs give a person a relaxed and calming effect and the most common types of CSN depressants are Valium, spam, and Nembutal.Stimulants are prescribed to help people who have problems such as depression, asthma, and especially ADHD and ADD. People that take stimulants feel more alert and their attention span is enhanced and these types of increased feelings can become addictive. Stimulants are also taken for weight loss. The most common stimulants that are abused are Ritalin, Straterra, and Adderrall.” While almost every kind of prescription drug can be abused there are some kinds that are abused more than others. These types of drugs are opioids (painkillers), stimulants, and central nervous system (CSN) depressants (antidepressants).” http://treatmentguide.com/prescription-drug-treatment/
Are you taking any of the drugs mentioned in the above quotes? Do you feel you cannot make it through the day without taking one or more pills? Then perhaps you are an addict. Please consider seeking help and make the decision to do what you can to transcend your addiction. Even if you are not addicted to your prescription drugs, you may be severely at risk for psychological side effects.
What about so called street drugs? Well most of us know that the illicit drugs can lead to addiction and or overdose.
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“Street drugs are substances people take to give themselves a pleasurable experience, or to help them feel better if they are having a bad time, or simply because their friends are using them. They include heroin, cocaine, cannabis, alcohol and some prescribed medicines. All street drugs have effects on mental health: that is why people use them. They are all likely to affect the way you see things, your mood and your behavior. Unfortunately, while they may give a short-lived burst of pleasure, or an exciting experience, many of them have longer-lasting harmful effects and, for some people, they may cause long-term mental health problems.” http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/psychological_effects_of_street_drugs
The above Website lists several “street drugs”, many of which we don't think of as addiction causing; like caffeine nicotine and Benzodiazepines. Do you smoke and drink coffee daily? Have you tried to quit and had difficulty doing so? Then you are addicted. Experts tell us all drugs impact us on a psychological as well as a physiological level. The effects impact our hormonal levels and our emotions. The ruling elites know this. This is why they push drugs the way they do. This is why they spend so much money promoting all types of drug use. This is why doctors are so willing to write prescriptions as the drop of a hat. It's not just about making money for the pharmaceutical companies and doctors, that's just one element and incentive. The psychopaths who want to rule us and subvert the natural order plan to keep us dumbed down, poisoned and doped up so we can not think or act beyond our addiction our debt peonage and serfdom. Don't play into their plans for us. We can thwart their nefarious agenda by getting and remaining sober, sane and healthy.
Author and legendary conservationist Lawrence Anthony died March 2. His family tells of a solemn procession of Elephants that defies human explanation.
For 12 hours, two herds of wild South African elephants slowly made their way through the Zululand bush until they reached the house of late author Lawrence Anthony, the conservationist who saved their lives.The formerly violent, rogue elephants, destined to be shot a few years ago as pests, were rescued and rehabilitated by Anthony, who had grown up in the bush and was known as the “Elephant Whisperer.”
For two days the herds loitered at Anthony’s rural compound on the vast Thula Thula game reserve in the South African KwaZulu – to say good-bye to the man they loved. But how did they know he had died? Known for his unique ability to calm traumatized elephants, Anthony had become a legend. He is the author of three books, Babylon Ark, detailing his efforts to rescue the animals at Baghdad Zoo during the Iraqi war, the forthcoming The Last Rhinos, and his bestselling The Elephant Whisperer.
There are two elephant herds at Thula Thula. According to his son Dylan, both arrived at the Anthony family compound shortly after Anthony’s death.“They had not visited the house for a year and a half and it must have taken them about 12 hours to make the journey,” Dylan is quoted in various local news accounts. “The first herd arrived on Sunday and the second herd, a day later. They all hung around for about two days before making their way back into the bush.”Elephants have long been known to mourn their dead. In India, baby elephants often are raised with a boy who will be their lifelong “mahout.” The pair develop legendary bonds – and it is notuncommon for one to waste away without a will to live after the death of the other.
A line of elephants approaching the Anthony house (Photo courtesy of the Anthony family)But these are wild elephants in the 21st century, not some Rudyard Kipling novel.The first herd to arrive at Thula Thula several years ago were violent. They hated humans. Anthony found himself fighting a desperate battle for their survival and their trust, which he detailed in The Elephant Whisperer:“It was 4:45 a.m. and I was standing in front of Nana, an enraged wild elephant, pleading with her in desperation. Both our lives depended on it. The only thing separating us was an 8,000-volt electric fence that she was preparing to flatten and make her escape.“Nana, the matriarch of her herd, tensed her enormous frame and flared her ears.“’Don’t do it, Nana,’ I said, as calmly as I could. She stood there, motionless but tense. The rest of the herd froze.“’This is your home now,’ I continued. ‘Please don’t do it, girl.’I felt her eyes boring into me.
Anthony, Nana and calf (Photo courtesy of the Anthony family)“’They’ll kill you all if you break out. This is your home now. You have no need to run any more.’“Suddenly, the absurdity of the situation struck me,” Anthony writes. “Here I was in pitch darkness, talking to a wild female elephant with a baby, the most dangerous possible combination, as if we were having a friendly chat. But I meant every word. ‘You will all die if you go. Stay here. I will be here with you and it’s a good place.’“She took another step forward. I could see her tense up again, preparing to snap the electric wire and be out, the rest of the herd smashing after her in a flash.“I was in their path, and would only have seconds to scramble out of their way and climb the nearest tree. I wondered if I would be fast enough to avoid being trampled. Possibly not.“Then something happened between Nana and me, some tiny spark of recognition, flaring for the briefest of moments. Then it was gone. Nana turned and melted into the bush. The rest of the herd followed. I couldn’t explain what had happened between us, but it gave me the first glimmer of hope since the elephants had first thundered into my life.”
Elephants gathering at the Anthony home (Photo courtesy of the Anthony family)It had all started several weeks earlier with a phone call from an elephant welfare organization. Would Anthony be interested in adopting a problem herd of wild elephants? They lived on a game reserve 600 miles away and were “troublesome,” recalled Anthony.“They had a tendency to break out of reserves and the owners wanted to get rid of them fast. If we didn’t take them, they would be shot.“The woman explained, ‘The matriarch is an amazing escape artist and has worked out how to break through electric fences. She just twists the wire around her tusks until it snaps, or takes the pain and smashes through.’“’Why me?’ I asked.“’I’ve heard you have a way with animals. You’re right for them. Or maybe they’re right for you.’”What followed was heart-breaking. One of the females and her baby were shot and killed in the round-up, trying to evade capture.
The French version of “The Elephant Whisperer”“When they arrived, they were thumping the inside of the trailer like a gigantic drum. We sedated them with a pole-sized syringe, and once they had calmed down, the door slid open and the matriarch emerged, followed by her baby bull, three females and an 11-year-old bull.”Last off was the 15-year-old son of the dead mother. “He stared at us,” writes Anthony, “flared his ears and with a trumpet of rage, charged, pulling up just short of the fence in front of us.“His mother and baby sister had been shot before his eyes, and here he was, just a teenager, defending his herd. David, my head ranger, named him Mnumzane, which in Zulu means ‘Sir.’ We christened the matriarch Nana, and the second female-in-command, the most feisty, Frankie, after my wife.“We had erected a giant enclosure within the reserve to keep them safe until they became calm enough to move out into the reserve proper.“Nana gathered her clan, loped up to the fence and stretched out her trunk, touching the electric wires. The 8,000-volt charge sent a jolt shuddering through her bulk. She backed off. Then, with her family in tow, she strode the entire perimeter of the enclosure, pointing her trunk at the wire to check for vibrations from the electric current.
“As I went to bed that night, I noticed the elephants lining up along the fence, facing out towards their former home. It looked ominous. I was woken several hours later by one of the reserve’s rangers, shouting, ‘The elephants have gone! They’ve broken out!’ The two adult elephants had worked as a team to fell a tree, smashing it onto the electric fence and then charging out of the enclosure.
“I scrambled together a search party and we raced to the border of the game reserve, but we were too late. The fence was down and the animals had broken out.
“They had somehow found the generator that powered the electric fence around the reserve. After trampling it like a tin can, they had pulled the concrete-embedded fence posts out of the ground like matchsticks, and headed north.”
The reserve staff chased them – but had competition.
“We met a group of locals carrying large caliber rifles, who claimed the elephants were ‘fair game’ now. On our radios we heard the wildlife authorities were issuing elephant rifles to staff. It was now a simple race against time.”
Anthony managed to get the herd back onto Thula Thula property, but problems had just begun:
“Their bid for freedom had, if anything, increased their resentment at being kept in captivity. Nana watched my every move, hostility seeping from every pore, her family behind her. There was no doubt that sooner or later they were going to make another break for freedom.
“Then, in a flash, came the answer. I would live with the herd. To save their lives, I would stay with them, feed them, talk to them. But, most importantly, be with them day and night. We all had to get to know each other.” It worked, as the book describes in detail, notes the London Daily Mail newspaper.
Anthony was later offered another troubled elephant – one that was all alone because the rest of her herd had been shot or sold, and which feared humans. He had to start the process all over again.
And as his reputation spread, more “troublesome” elephants were brought to Thula Thula.
So, how after Anthony’s death, did the reserve’s elephants — grazing miles away in distant parts of the park — know?
“A good man died suddenly,” says Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, Ph.D., “and from miles and miles away, two herds of elephants, sensing that they had lost a beloved human friend, moved in a solemn, almost ‘funereal’ procession to make a call on the bereaved family at the deceased man’s home.”
“If there ever were a time, when we can truly sense the wondrous ‘interconnectedness of all beings,’ it is when we reflect on the elephants of Thula Thula. A man’s heart’s stops, and hundreds of elephants’ hearts are grieving. This man’s oh-so-abundantly loving heart offered healing to these elephants, and now, they came to pay loving homage to their friend.”
His sons say that their father was a remarkable man who lived his life to the fullest and never looked back on any choices he made.
He leaves behind his wife Francoise, his two sons, Dylan and Jason, and two grandsons, Ethan and Brogan.
This story has touched so many of us so very deeply that we have decided to put a call out to all those who would like to salute this amazing man, Lawrence Anthony. We thought that we might make a beautiful tribute to him and invite you all to be part of it. If you would like to upload your favourite elephant related photograph, poem, song, video or a few words of your own. Please fill in the form below. We will create a project page with all of your contributions and then turn them into a beautiful collection in his honour to give to the family.
Is that connected to the spiritual images in your videos?
