Black Women, Sexual Assault

and the Art of Resistance

Brooke Axtell, Contributor

 

Abigail R. Esman, ContributorI think that it’s important to put this into context. The implication here is that the number of black women who are raped is vastly higher than the number [...]Brooke Axtell, ContributorAbigail,Lisa Gates, ContributorElizabeth, we’re really not talking about race, but culture and class. I mean, I’m mostly Irish, and I would never be called Irish-American. Whatever I’m c [...]Elizabeth CircoThis is also not about labels, Lisa. I prefer to be called Black American because it’s confusing – if someone moved here from Africa today, they would be A [...]Brooke Axtell, ContributorElizabeth, thank you for sharing your insights. Yes, it is important to carefully weigh government research against the studies created by Black women for [...]Elizabeth CircoI’m kind of falling in love with you, Brooke! :) Thank you for the article and the follow up.Abigail R. Esman, ContributorI’ve just watched a shocking story on Dutch TV news: that in South Africa, a woman (or girl) is raped every seven seconds. And before anyone gets into a [...]Elizabeth CircoNo one said that the Black women were being raped by white men – the fact is that most interpersonal crime in Black America is perpetrated within-race. Tha [...]

Filmmaker and activist Aishah Shahidah Simmons

 

 

According to an ongoing study conducted by Black Women’s Blueprint, sixty percent of Black girls have experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18. More than 300 Black women nationwide participated in the research project. A similar study conducted by The Black Women’s Health Imperative seven years ago found the rate of sexual assault was approximately 40%.

The pervasive nature of this trauma could translate into an increased risk for Black women and girls to experience depression, PTSD and addiction, common symptoms experienced by many survivors of rape.

The Department of Justice estimates that for every white woman that reports her rape, at least 5 white women do not report theirs; and yet, for every African-American woman that reports her rape, at least 15 African-American women do not report theirs.

There are many reasons why Black women may choose not to report incidences of sexual assault. Survivors of all races often fear that they will not be believed or will be blamed for their attack, but Black women face unique challenges.

Historically, law enforcement has been used to control African-American communities through brutality and racial profiling. It may be difficult for a Black woman to seek help if she feels it could be at the expense of African-American men or her community. The history of racial injustice (particularly the stereotype of the Black male as a sexual predator) and the need to protect her community from further attack might persuade a survivor to remain silent.

We need more research to fully understand the scope of violence against Black women and the barriers they face to receiving support services. This requires both the political will and funding to make their lives a priority. Unfortunately, due to a long history of systemic racism and classism in the United States, the violation of Black women’s bodies is often rendered invisible.

“No race, ethnic group, or economic class is spared from sexual violence or the myths and misinformation that complicate the healing process for survivors. But in addition to our higher victimization rate, African Americans are less likely to get the help we need to heal,” says Lori S. Robinson, author of I Will Survive: The African-American Guide to Healing From Sexual Assault and Abuse.

Robinson points out that in studies of Black women’s sexuality conducted by psychologist Dr. Gail Elizabeth Wyatt, half of the women who had experienced childhood sexual abuse never told anyone and less than 5 percent ever got counseling. “African-American women are raped at a higher rate than White women, and are less likely to report it. We have suffered in silence far too long,” she says.

The movement to end sexual violence in the lives of Black women in the U.S. is inextricably connected to the Civil Rights movement. We cannot effectively discuss the issue of sexual assault in Black communities without acknowledging the direct war that was waged against Black women through rape during slavery and the Jim Crow era.

We must also honor the legacy of anti-rape activism.

Although Rosa Parks is remembered as the NAACP organizer who sparked the 1955 bus boycott and helped give birth to the Civil Rights Movement, she was an anti-rape activist long before the boycott. “Decades before radical feminists in the Women’s Movement urged rape survivors to ‘speak out,’ African American women’s public protests galvanized local, national and even international outrage and sparked larger campaigns for racial justice and human dignity,” says Dr. Danielle L. McGuire, author of At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance (A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power).

Continuing this legacy of creative resistance, filmmaker and activist, Aishah Shahidah Simmons, speaks out on the issue of sexual violence. Her ground-breaking film, NO! The Rape Documentary was a part of her own healing process as a survivor of sexual assault.

When I ask her about the relationship between activism and inner healing she says, “It’s mandatory. NO! saved my life. I have my own stories of child sexual abuse and rape. NO! was my cultural activism. In NO! the women’s stories were different, and yet similar to my own. Getting involved in this movement has healed me.”

In addition to her anti-rape activism, Simmons recommends the tools she uses on her healing journey, which include therapy with a licensed clinical psychologist (or a licensed social worker),Vipassana meditation and the Buddhist practice of loving-kindness “so you don’t become the very entity that you are trying to fight.” She also emphasizes the importance of community, “Find community that will not re-victimize you. Connect online to survivors who are doing this work. Faith communities are important, but they are not a substitution for therapy.”

Simmons acknowledges that African-American women face barriers to finding the healing resources they need. “Because of the history of racism and sexism in America, in many instances, you are already presumed guilty. It is assumed that we are always wanting, willing, and able. Sometimes women call the police and the police decide a rape didn’t occur because of their race. You wonder if you will you be treated with respect. If your community is held hostage by the police, how can you trust the police? Where do you go?”

Through the filmmaking process, she discovered that racism played a significant role in survivors’ reactions to rape. “There was a level of trust with perpetrators because (as in the majority of all rape cases, regardless of race/ethnicity), the women I interviewed were raped by acquaintances. They would ask, ‘How do I come forward?’ because they were advocating against racism in their communities and didn’t want to send another Black man to jail. We are trained as women not to betray the Black race.”

“This country has a virulent history of racist violence perpetuated against Black Women, yet we have tried to protect Black men from racism. Like Black men, Black women have been horribly impacted by white supremacy. Yet, there is often not the same outcry in our communities when a Black woman is raped,” Simmons explains.

Dr. Charlotte Pierce-Baker, a featured interviewee in NO! and the author ofSurviving the Silence: Black Women’s Stories of Rape , says in both her book and in the film that “We are taught that we are first Black, then women. Our families have taught us this, and society in its harsh racial lessons reinforces it.  Black women have survived by keeping quiet not solely out of shame, but out of a need to preserve the race and its image.  In our attempts to preserve racial pride, we Black women have sacrificed our own souls.”

When I ask Simmons about the unique challenges of Black LGBT individuals, she points out that if a queer-identified survivor shares their story they are often told, “’Oh that’s why you’re gay!’ Rather than provide healing to victim-survivors, that question pathologizes our sexuality.  We can look at the global statistics of violence against women and know that if rape made women gay, most women would be gay! Also, if you are sexually assaulted in a same gender relationship, people have to confront stereotypes about who is a perpetrator. It’s a silencing mechanism and that becomes a deterrent to ending sexual violence.”

This is why Simmons is passionately devoted to eradicating sexual violence by addressing the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in her work. Subtitled in Spanish, French, and Portuguese,  NO! also examines how rape is used as a weapon of homophobia. We cannot effectively help survivors to heal or implement transformative violence prevention campaigns if we do not illuminate a whole spectrum discrimination issues, including racism, economic inequality, gender bias and heterosexist assumptions.

Through her powerful film, writing and activism, Aishah Shahidah Simmons reminds us that Black women’s bodies deserve to be honored and the work to end violence must begin with the most marginalized among us.

NO! The Rape Documentary

 

 

Judge denies

Jacksonville woman

new trial despite

'Stand Your Ground' claim

Posted: May 3, 2012 - 9:54am  |  Updated: May 3, 2012

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-05-03/story/judge-denies-jacksonville-woman-new-trial-despite-stand-your-ground#1#ixzz1trzP6L9g

By Charles Broward jacksonville.com Copyright 2012 The Florida Times-Union. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

May 3, 2012 - 09:54am

Judge denies Jacksonville woman new trial despite 'Stand Your Ground' claim

A judge denied a new trial Thursday for a Jacksonville woman who’s gained national support that she stood her ground firing a warning shot against an abusive husband and now can expect a 20-year-sentence.

Defense attorney Kevin Cobbin spent about 40 minutes arguing on behalf of 31-year-old Marissa Alexander. He based much of it on what he called limitations the court placed on testimony that could support Alexander’s claim of her husband’s reputation of abusing women.

Authorities said Alexander shot in the direction of 36-year-old Rico Gray during an August 2010 dispute at their home with his two children in the house.

It took a jury just 12 minutes to find Alexander guilty in March of three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Alexander, who rejected an earlier plea deal, said she was in fear of her life and fired the single shot to get Gray out of the house. She said she had tried to leave through the garage before getting her gun, but the door wouldn’t work.

Circuit Judge James Daniel denied all of Cobbins’ pleas for a new trial, repeatedly referring to the accounts of two witnesses who did testify about Gray’s violent reputation.

Cobbin argued that the court also erred in denying Alexander immunity in a Stand Your Ground hearing in July 2011. The law has become a firestorm for debate following the February killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford.

It helped elevate Alexander’s cause as the NAACP’s Jacksonville chapter issued a letter to the judge, supporters have rallied outside the courthouse and national media have zoned in on her story.

Cobbin added that new evidence pertaining to the details of the incident was not known at the time of the hearing.

That new evidence included the testimony of one of the victims, Gray’s son, who at first told authorities he was in fear of his life during the shooting. But at Alexander’s trial, he said he was not.

The judge said it would be improper, however, to reverse Circuit Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt’s previous findings in the immunity hearing, which would ultimately translate into an acquittal.

“Maybe I would be agreeing to a new Stand Your Ground motion, which highlights some of the difficulties we are struggling with procedurally implementing this new law,” Daniel said. “But ultimately the motion is denied.”

Daniel said that despite any new evidence, Senterfitt’s ruling was based on Alexander’s decision to go back into the home armed with a gun.

“This is inconsistent with a person in genuine fear of his or her life,” Senterfitt wrote in her ruling.

“She had every right to walk back in that house and had no intention of using that gun until he engaged her,” Cobbin said.

Daniel said he will consider acquitting her of one of the charges based on Gray’s son’s testimony at trial, which he said he took as the truth, though Alexander will still face the 20-year sentence on the other two counts.

State Attorney Angela Corey said it was Alexander’s choice to take the case to trial despite a plea offer that would have given her a three-year sentence. The offer was good until the Friday before her trial.

“We still considered all of her mitigation and offered to take 17 years off of the 20-year minimum mandatory, which the ‘10-20-Life’ [law] is excellent at giving prosecutors the discretion to do,” Corey said.

Corey said that offer came even after Alexander was arrested four months after the shooting on a charge of domestic abuse, again against Gray. She pleaded no contest to that charge in March following her trial and was sentenced to time served.

Gray has been arrested twice on domestic battery charges, one against Alexander resulting in a conviction and a sentence of probation. Alexander had an injunction filed against him following the attack.

“There’s no set standard as to what you do when you’re in fear,” said Helen Jenkins, Alexander’s mother. “Actually, he’s still alive. That speaks well of her.”

Jenkins said she was disappointed by the judge’s ruling, but she and her supporters will “keep on going” to an appeal.

But not before Alexander is sentenced May 11.

Robert F. Williams:

"The Man They Don't

Want You To Know About"

By RBG Street Scholar on March 11, 2007

Link to the full video version of this presentation:

The Honorable Robert F. Williams: "The Teacher They Don't Want You To Know About"

“LET IT BURN - The Coming Destruction of the USA?

Robert F. Williams

" Bio of the Original Lion King & Brave Heart" 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROBERT F. WILLIAMS PROVIDED THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATION FOR AMERICA'S MOST MILITANT ADVOCATES OF RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE. FROM HIS ACTIONS, SPEECHES, AND WRITINGS EMERGED THE FOUNDATION FOR THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT.

STUDYING WITH ROBERT F. WILLIAMS IS ESSENTIAL FOR ALL RBG STREET SCHOLARS THINK TANK LEARNERS WHO INTENDS TO DRAW LESSONS FROM THE 1960’S LIBERATION STRUGGLE. HIS WORKS WILL INFORM YOU ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS AND BLACK POWER MOVEMENTS, AND AMERICAN RADICALISM, AND ON ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY POLITICAL CAREERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

IF ONE COULD ASK THE LEADERS COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE BLACK POWER AND BLACK NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS OF THE 1960S--MALCOLM X, KWAME TORUE (STOKELY CARMICHAEL) , JAMIAL AL-AMIN (RAP BROWN), AMIRI BARAKA (LEROI JONES) , AND BLACK PANTHERS HUEY NEWTON, BOBBY SEALE AND ELDRIDGE CLEAVER--WHAT INDIVIDUAL HAD THE GREATEST INFLUENCE ON THEIR POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT, SURELY ONE OF THE FIRST TO BE NAMED WOULD BE ROBERT FRANKLIN WILLIAMS.

ONE OF THE MOST UNDERESTIMATED FORCES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY:
ROBERT F. WILLIAMS, BORN IN UNION COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, IS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERESTIMATED FORCES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY. TO AN EXTENT THIS IS UNDERSTANDABLE BECAUSE HIS MOST INFLUENTIAL YEARS WERE LIVED IN EXILE IN CUBA AND CHINA. HIS PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS WERE SUPPRESSED BY THE CIA AND THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, AND HIS IDEAS OF ARMED STRUGGLE TOO MILITANT FOR THE U.S. NEWS MEDIA TO TREAT OBJECTIVELY.

WILLIAMS'S LIFELONG PARTNER IN POLITICS WAS HIS WIFE MABEL, WHO JOINED HIM IN ARMED DEFIANCE OF RACIST ASSAULTS, CO-HOSTED HIS RADIO PROGRAM, AND NETWORKED FOR HIS SOCIAL CAUSES. ROBERT AND MABEL WILLIAMS PROVIDE AN EXTRAORDINARY RECORD OF A HUSBAND-WIFE PARTNERSHIP IN THE CAUSE OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.

A DARING STRATEGY OF LETHAL FORCE AGAINST VIGILANTE VIOLENCE:
WILLIAMS'S PHILOSOPHY WAS INITIALLY FORGED BY THE LABOR MILITANTS HE HAD MET AS A MIGRANT INDUSTRIAL WORKER IN NORTHERN CITIES, BY HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE U.S. MILITARY, AND BY THE RURAL SOUTHERN TRADITION OF ARMED SELF-RELIANCE. AFTER LIVING OUTSIDE THE SOUTH FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WILLIAMS RETURNED HOME TO NORTH CAROLINAMONROEUNION COUNTY. HIS TALENTS AS AN ORGANIZER LED TO A SURGE IN MEMBERSHIP. WHEN HIS MILITANCY PROVOKED A MASSIVE BACKLASH BY THE KU KLUX KLAN, WILLIAMS LED ARMED AND DISCIPLINED NAACP BRANCH MEMBERS AGAINST THE KLAN ASSAULTS.

AT ODDS WITH THE MAINSTREAM CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT:
WILLIAMS'S ADVOCACY OF THE USE OF FORCE RESULTED IN SERIOUS DIFFERENCES WITH BOTH THE LONG STANDING LEADERSHIP OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND WITH THE NEWLY EMERGING NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION MOVEMENT OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HAVING UNNERVED THE NAACP NATIONAL OFFICE BY HIS WILLINGNESS TO WORK WITH COMMUNISTS AND MARXISTS TO DRAMATIZE CASES THE NAACP DEEMED TOO HOT TO HANDLE, WILLIAMS WAS REMOVED FROM THE LEADERSHIP OF THE NAACP BRANCH BY ANXIOUS NATIONAL LEADERS.

COUNTERPOINT TO THE NONVIOLENT STRATEGIES OF KING:
BY 1961, WILLIAMS SEEMED DESTINED TO STAND AS A NATIONAL LEADER WHO ADVOCATED AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION SUPPORTED BY MARTIN LUTHER KING. BUT WILLIAMS WAS DETOURED FROM NATIONAL LEADERSHIP BECAUSE OF AN EPISODE INVOLVING THE FREEDOM RIDERS IN WHICH HE WAS ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING A KLANSMAN AND HIS WIFE. IN ONE OF THE GREAT ESCAPES IN AMERICAN HISTORY, THE WILLIAMS FAMILY, INCLUDING TWO SMALL CHILDREN, ELUDED THE FBI, KLAN VIGILANTES, STATE POLICE FROM NORTH CAROLINA TO NEW YORK, AND THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE. TO THE CHAGRIN OF NORTH CAROLINA OFFICIALS, THEY RE-EMERGED IN CUBA IN THE FALL OF 1961.

"THE CRUSADER":
THE PROTOTYPE OF THE BLACK POWER AGENDA EVOLVED IN WILLIAMS'S NEWSLETTER, THE CRUSADER, FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1959. ENGAGINGLY WRITTEN AND INCLUDING A COLUMN BY MABEL, THE CRUSADER DISSEMINATED THE WILLIAMS'S HOMESPUN RADICALISM AND CHRONICLED THE RACIAL STRUGGLE IN NORTH CAROLINA AND THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH. THE CRUSADER'S DARING CONTENT BEDEVILED MONROE'S INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, ESPOUSED MILITANT ARMED RESISTANCE, AND CHASTISED MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND THE PROPONENTS OF PASSIVE RESISTANCE.

"RADIO FREE DIXIE":
IN CUBA, ROBERT BECAME A CELEBRITY AND FRIEND OF CUBAN LEADER FIDEL CASTRO. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT PROVIDED HIM WITH A TRANSFORMER CAPABLE OF BROADCASTING TO THE ENTIRE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES. SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY, ROBERT AND MABEL CREATED THE WEEKLY PROGRAM, "RADIO FREE DIXIE." THEIR BROADCASTS INCLUDED AN INFLUENTIAL MIX OF PROGRESSIVE BLACK JAZZ (MUCH OF IT SHIPPED TO CUBA BY LEROI JONES IN NEW YORK); COMMENTARY ON GLOBAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS, AND ROBERT WILLIAMS'S SCATHING COMMENTARY ON AMERICAN POLITICAL HYPOCRISY. HE CONTINUED TO PUBLISH THE CRUSADER, WHOSE CIRCULATION GREW TO 15,000 IN SPITE OF OBSTRUCTION BY THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE.

"NEGROES WITH GUNS":
IN 1962, WILLIAMS PUBLISHED THE MANIFESTO, NEGROES WITH GUNS. THIS TRACT RECOUNTED THE HISTORY OF HIS ARMED STRUGGLES AGAINST THE KLAN AND ARTICULATED HIS PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLACE OF ARMED SELF-DEFENSE IN THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE. NEGROES WITH GUNS IS AN AMERICAN POLITICAL CLASSIC, ON PAR WITH THOMAS PAINE'S COMMON SENSE, OR MARTIN LUTHER KING'S "LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL." IT ENGAGED MANY OF THE BEST MINDS IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, SUCH AS BAYARD RUSTIN AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, WHO ASSAILED IT AT LENGTH. HUEY P. NEWTON DREW HEAVILY ON NEGROES WITH GUNS IN DRAFTING THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY. IT WAS EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL IN TURNING STUDENT NON-VIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE LEADERS FROM PACIFISTS TO BLACK POWER MILITANTS. WILLIAMS WAS ONE OF THE VERY FEW CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS WHOM MALCOLM X OPENLY PRAISED.

ANTIWAR ACTIVITY IN VIETNAM:
WILLIAMS' JEREMIADS AGAINST AMERICAN SOCIETY INTENSIFIED WITH THE ESCALATION OF THE VIETNAM WAR. HE VISITED WITH HO CHI MINH IN NORTH VIETNAM AND JOINED IN VARIOUS ANTI-WAR ACTIVITIES TO DISCOURAGE AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM FIGHTING.

YEARS IN CHINA:
WILLIAMS RELOCATED TO CHINA IN 1966 DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION. THERE AS IN CUBA WILLIAMS ENJOYED A CELEBRITY STATUS AND FRATERNIZED WITH MAO ZEDONG AND CHOU EN LAI. HIS INTEREST IN MAOIST REVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT FOUND ITS WAY INTO THE CRUSADER, WHICH CONTINUED TO REACH AN INFLUENTIAL UNDERGROUND AUDIENCE AMONG BLACK POWER MILITANTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT:
IN SPITE OF HIS EXILE, ROBERT WILLIAMS'S INFLUENCE WAS PROFOUND. HIS EMPHASIS ON SITUATING THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS GAINED WIDE ACCEPTANCE, AS DID HIS PHILOSOPHY OF ARMED RESISTANCE. HIS MILITANT RHETORICAL STYLE-VIGOROUS, COLORFUL, AND VITRIOLIC-WAS EMULATED THROUGHOUT THE MOVEMENT. A DEDICATED NETWORK OF WILLIAMS'S FOLLOWERS IN AMERICAAFRICA TO PROMOTE HIS MILITANT PHILOSOPHY AMONG INTELLECTUALS AND ACTIVISTS. THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY'S PUBLIC POSTURE OF THE ARMED MILITANT WAS CONSCIOUSLY INFLUENCED BY WILLIAMS'S VISION.

WITHDRAWAL FROM LEADERSHIP AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED STATES:
IN 1969, ROBERT WILLIAMS RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES WITH THE QUIET ACQUIESCENCE OF NONE OTHER THAN PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON. THIS WAS DONE AS A GESTURE OF GOODWILL IN THE PRESIDENT'S EFFORTS TO CULTIVATE THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP FOR HIS HISTORIC VISIT TO CHINA, EVEN THOUGH THE FBI HAD WARNED NIXON THAT WILLIAMS COULD LIKELY FILL THE ROLE OF ASSASSINATED CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS, MALCOLM X AND MARTIN LUTHER KING. BUT AFTER ASSESSING THE STATE OF THE MOVEMENT IN 1970, RIFE WITH MADDENING INTERNECINE IDEOLOGICAL DIVISIONS, AND MURDERS AND INCARCERATION OF NUMEROUS BLACK MILITANTS, WILLIAMS, NOW DISILLUSIONED, WITHDREW FROM ALL BUT NOMINAL LEADERSHIP IN THE MILITANT GROUPS THAT WERE FOUNDED IN HIS NAME. THE MATERIAL ON HIS DISILLUSIONMENT WITH THE MOVEMENT IS A SUBJECT OF VAST RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE IN AND OF ITSELF.

WILLIAMS BECAME A RESEARCH ASSOCIATE AT THE INSTITUTE FOR CHINESE STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. HE AND MABEL MOVED TO THE REMOTE, HISTORICALLY INTEGRATED, MICHIGANTOWNSHIP OF BALDWIN, WHERE THEY REMAINED FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. IN BALDWIN, THE WILLIAMSES CONTINUED THEIR DEDICATION TO SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION, FOCUSING ON THE LOCAL LEVEL. HIS ROLE AS A NATIONAL LEADER SUBSIDED, BUT HIS IMAGE AMONG THE SUCCEEDING GENERATION OF BLACK POWER ADVOCATES REMAINS PROFOUND. LIKE THE BLACK FOLK HERO "JOHN HENRY," ROBERT F. WILLIAMS OUTWITTED AND TORMENTED THE OPPRESSORS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.

Data from:The Black Power Movement

http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/upa_cis/default.asp?t=141

retrieved on Mar 8, 2007 05:21:46 GMT.

 

Also See: Let It Burn/ Coming Destruction of USA? WHERE, IN 1955, HE TOOK OVER A SHRIVELING NAACP BRANCH IN HIS HOMETOWN OF IN ESTABLISHED ORGANIZATIONSSUCH AS THE REVOLUTIONARY ACTION MOVEMENT AND THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRICA

Video:

Stephen Marley

ft. Wale & Cast of Fela

‘Made In Africa’

May 1, 2012

Posted by: killakam

Classic black-and-white coverage of the continent turns into scenes of present day Ethiopia in the music video for Stephen Marley‘s pan-Africanist joint from last year’s Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life. In an interview with our LargeUp family, Marley revealed that ”Made In Africa” — which features a Wale verse and choirs from the cast of Fela! — was his favorite cut off the album, describing it as “an epic sound with the harmonies and Wale’s part–kind of like a movie vibe.” Read the interview and peep the “Made In Africa” clip above.

__________________________

LargeUp Exclusive:

Stephen Marley Interview

SHOKO!

Festival Documentary

(Zimbabwe)

Ross January 22nd, 2012 

The monumental task of putting together an international festival in Zimbabwe right now would be enough to scare most organisers away at the planning stages, but thankfully not everyone is easily intimidated.

The Shoko International Spoken Word & Hip Hop Festival is a celebration of poetry, hip hop and urban culture that strives for positive social change and democracy. Running in Harare, Zimbabwe, from the 21st – 24th September, the inaugural Shoko included live concerts, an artists’ debate, an international poetry slam, film screenings, live recordings, live graffiti and a cultural activist conference. The festival succeeded to bring in acts from 8 different countries including headline acts such as Akala (UK), Tumi & the Volume (SA), Hired Gun (USA) and Andreattah Chuma (Botswana).

Make no mistake, the fact that the organisers managed to pull this off (and so successfully) all in the space of 6 months, is nothing short of amazing. With all the work (and frustrations) that would have happened behind the scenes to make SHOKO! a reality, I cannot give enough praise to @ComradeFatsooo, @OutspokenAlphaI, @NomadicWax and the rest of the Magamba Network team for their efforts.

Being Zimbabwean myself, it gives me immense pride seeing social projects like this which celebrate hip hop culture in such a positive environment, something which will undoubtably benefit the community.

The documentary is fairly long (15 minutes) so go make a cup of tea while you let the video buffer, then sit back and enjoy a window into one of the most ambitious, forward thinking and positive festivals to take place on the African continent.

1,200 people visited Shoko over its four day duration. Meanwhile there were over 50 performances and 15 workshops/seminars took place.

In the prevailing climate of fear in Zimbabwe the Shoko Festival proved to be unique in its use of urban culture for social change and democratization. Through the debates, workshops, conferences and concerts Shoko created a free space for open democratic debate while also encouraging a new generation of spoken word and hip hop artists.

The documentary showcases the best of the festival including the concerts, workshops, talks, poetry slams, graffiti, break dancing and the like. The film also has interviews with the organizers and artists involved revealing why such an event is key in contributing to social and political change.

If you want more (and if your bandwidth allows), head over to the Magamba Network YouTube channel where you can watch full-length concerts by all the performers including Tumi and the Volume (SA), Akala (UK) and Monkey Nuts (Zim) – as well as footage from the workshops and lectures.

More than enough to keep you busy for a few hours..

@ShokoFestival | Shoko! Festival on Facebook

__________________________

SHOKO! Festival Concert:

Tumi & The Volume (SA)

>via: http://vimeopro.com/nomadicwax/shoko/video/33721733

Project Guidelines: Tomorrow Anthology

The submission period for this project is 1 June 2012 through 30 September 2012 inclusive.

Please read these Project Guidelines in conjunction with our General Submission Guidelines to improve your chances of acceptance.

“Tomorrow” will be a short fiction post-apocalyptic anthology featuring speculative fiction stories written by established and upcoming writers from around the world.

None of us know what will happen Tomorrow. The world, as we know it, could change overnight and these stories will be free to explore the possibilities of that change. “Set your imagination free” and submit stories full of action and excitement, uncertainty and fear, struggles, destruction and mayhem. We want stories with a difference.

“Speculative fiction” includes fantasy, science fiction and horror elements. The stories can mix these genres and should be aimed at the adult market.

The anthology is due for release in paperback and various digital formats in late 2012.

Submissions received before or after the dates stated above will not be considered.

A submission button will be added to this page prior to 1 June 2012.

$4,500 in awards for writers

THE NEW LETTERS LITERARY AWARDS

 

 Deadline:  May 18, 2012.   Submit your writing online or by mail.  Details below. Entries sent after midnight May 18th can not be considered or refunded.  

The $1,500 New Letters Prize for Poetry

for the best 2012 group of three to six poems

The $1,500 Dorothy Churchill Cappon Prize for the Essay

for the 2012 best essay

The $1,500 Alexander Patterson Cappon Prize for Fiction

for the best 2012 short story

See winners of the 2011 Literary Awards
Find out more about our preliminary and final judges.

Previous Awards Final Judges and Winners (1986 to Latest)

   Interview with Robert Stewart, editor of New Letters (conducted by Jendi Reiter for Poetry Contest Insider).
 

GUIDELINES 

For a printable version of the 2012 guidelines, click here.

Submit by regular post or electronically.  Simultaneous submissions of unpublished entries are accepted with proper notification upon acceptance elsewhere.

UPLOAD YOUR WRITING ONLINE by midnight Friday, May 18th (Entries sent after midnight May 18th can not be considered or refunded).  Please read guidelines carefully to insure best service.

Enclose with each entry:

• $15 for first entry; $10 for every entry after. Entry fee includes the cost of a one-year subscription, renewal, or gift subscription to New Letters, shipped to any address within the United States.  (Subscriptions mailed outside the U.S. require a $12 postal surcharge.)  Make checks payable to New Letters.
• Two cover sheets: the first with complete name, address, e-mail address, phone number, category, and title(s); and the second with category and title only.  Your personal information should not appear anywhere else on the entry.  For sample cover sheets, click here.
• A stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt and entry number.
• A stamped, self-addressed envelope for a list of winners.  This is optional.  Please send only one envelope if submitting more than one entry.

RULES AND NOTES

• All entries will be considered for publication in New Letters.
• Fiction and essay entries are not to exceed 8,000 words.  A single poetry entry may contain up to six poems, and those poems need not be related.
• Multiple entries are accepted with appropriate fees.  Please make cover sheets for each entry of fiction, essay, or group of poems.
• Manuscripts will not be returned.
• No substitutions after submissions.  No refunds will be offered for withdrawn material.

• Current students and employees of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and current volunteer members of the New Letters and BkMk Press staffs, are not eligible.

• Postmark by May 18, 2012.

 

MAIL ENTRIES TO: New Letters Awards for Writers UMKC, University House 5101 Rockhill Road Kansas City, MO  64110-2499

OR

Submit online here.

HISTORY OF THE AWARDS COMPETITION

New Letters established its Awards for Writers in 1986 to discover and reward new writers and to encourage more established writers to try new genres or new work in competition.  The contest is open to any writer.  In order to assure fairness throughout the judging process, all judging is done anonymously and by writers outside the New Letters staff, with two rounds of judges making finalist and winner decisions.  For final judges from previous years, please see the list below.

Finalists are notified in mid August.  Final judges select one winner and one runner-up in each category, which are announced the third week of September.  First runners-up receive a courtesy copy of a recent book of poetry or fiction from our affiliate BkMk Press, a New Letters affiliate.  Judges have the option to select work for second runner-up and honorable mentions.  All finalists are listed in the New Letters issue in which the winners are published.  These and all other entries will be considered for publication by the New Letters editor. 

  AWARDS Alexander Patterson Cappon Fiction Prize:  $1,500 for the best short story New Letters Poetry Prize:  $1,500 for the best group of three to six poems Dorothy Churchill Cappon Essay Prize:  $1,500 for the best essay

The Script Competition

Opens: 26 March 2012
Closes: 21 May 2012

Writing for opera doesn’t have to be scary. That’s why we’re swinging the Coliseum doors open and handing the chief job over to you – yes, you!

To ignite your imagination we’ve enticed three of the most inspiring writers to provide Mini Operas’ seed stories: Will Self, A.L. Kennedy and Neil Gaiman.

Here’s what we want you to do.  Read the three seed stories and pick the one that interests you most.  Then write a script for a 5-7 minute opera based on that story. When it comes to inspiration, anything goes: a single word, title, a mood or even a character name.

In May we’ll pick 10 scripts to go through to the next round.  Those scripts will become the seeds that we will ask people to compose a soundtrack for in the next competition.  Remember that your writing will be set to music by someone else and that words can take a lot longer to sing than to read, so less is definitely more.

At the end of the Mini Operas competition we’ll choose three lucky people to participate in a new mentoring scheme with Jeremy Sams, Nico Muhly or Leo Warner.

But for now, just get writing.  You’ve got until 21 May to write your own script and enter it via our online form.

If you’re stuck on how to approach them, don’t panic. Our resident author Tamsin Collison has written us an example for each story.  You might choose to do something completely different – it’s up to you.  We’ll be adding more expert help to the site so come back soon for further inspiration.

 

The Stories

• 1. On Paper

     BY: A.L. Kennedy

     They choose good paper, heavy paper, envelopes that give them privacy. And they enjoy the sealing, licking, not to mention the ...

     More >
  Our Examples
  • 1. 
       • Facing The Truth
       • Written By: Tamsin Collison
       • Script: On Paper

       • Why did I come? This is such a mistake. This was such a ...

         More >
  -->

• 1. The Sweeper of Dreams

     BY: Neil Gaiman

     He will sweep it up – everything you left behind when you woke. And then he will burn it, to leave the stage fresh for your ...

     More >
• 1. 
     • What Dreams May Come
     • Written by: Tamsin Collison
     • Script: The Sweeper of Dreams

     • We are darkness and danger and desperate pursuit A bridge that is broken, a cry that is ...

       More >
-->

• 1. The Death of a Government Inspector

     BY: Will Self

     The scene is the lobby area of a central London hotel, the exchange between the two men is a rapid-fire duet in which phrase upon ...

     More >
• 1. 
     • Publish and Be Damned
     • Written by: Tamsin Collison
     • Script: The Death of a Government Inspector

     • I heard the lies, I saw the truth, I stood alone and the ...

       More >
-->

 

Our Examples

• 1. 
     • Facing The Truth
     • Written By: -->Tamsin Collison
     • Script: On Paper

     • Why did I come? This is such a mistake. This was such a ...

       More >
  1. 
     • What Dreams May Come
     • Written by: -->Tamsin Collison
     • Script: The Sweeper of Dreams

     • We are darkness and danger and desperate pursuit A bridge that is broken, a cry that is ...

       More >
  1. 
     • Publish and Be Damned
     • Written by: -->Tamsin Collison
     • Script: The Death of a Government Inspector

     • I heard the lies, I saw the truth, I stood alone and the ...

       More >

 

 

Gulf of Mexico coast

closed to shrimping

By Anne Sewell.

 

Two years after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, shrimp and fish are turning up deformed and with lesions. Shrimping has now been halted.

 

WEAR TV had originally reported that the stoppage of shrimping was due to the deformities found in the fish caused by the oil spill and chemicals used to clean up the oil. Now they have withdrawn their original story stating:

"The closure is in response to routine shrimp sampling that indicated the average size were smaller than 68 head-on shrimp per pound. Meaning biologists found smaller than average shrimp in the waters causing the temporary closure. They will continue to take samples in these areas and determine any modifications to the closures."

Their original post on April 23 was titled: “Looming Crisis: Officials Close Gulf Waters to Shrimping as Reports of Deformed Seafood Intensify.”

All waters in the Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay, plus some areas of Little Lagoon, Wolf Bay and Bon Secour have been closed to shrimpers.

While the original story was withdrawn, the problems persist.

Problems began after BP's Deepwater Horizon oilrig exploded on April 20, 2010, releasing at least 4.9 million barrels of oil. The oil company then used around 1.9 million gallons of toxic Corexit dispersants to disperse the oil.

Reports have since been received of grossly deformed seafood all along the Gulf from the Florida panhandle through to Louisiana. However, Alabama is the first state to close waters to the seafood fishing industry.

Dr James Cowan, with the Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences said in an interview with Al Jazeera, "The fishermen have never seen anything like this. And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I've never seen anything like this either."

Dr Cowan was also involved in the clean up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Dr Cowan states that he first started hearing about fish with lesions and sores from fishermen in November 2010.

Al Jazeera also interviewed Tracy Kuhns and her husband Mike Roberts. The couple are commercial fishers in Barataria, Louisiana, and they have been finding eyeless shrimp.

They told the news service, while showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp, "At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these."

Kuhns stated that at least 50% of shrimp caught between 2010 and now in Barataria Bay are affected. The popular shrimping area was badly affected by BP's oil and the dispersant chemicals used.

Kuhns added: "Disturbingly, not only do the shrimp lack eyes, they even lack eye sockets."

She then stated, "Some shrimpers are catching these out in the open Gulf [of Mexico]. They are also catching them in Alabama and Mississippi. We are also finding eyeless crabs, crabs with their shells soft instead of hard, full grown crabs that are one-fifth their normal size, clawless crabs, and crabs with shells that don't have their usual spikes … they look like they've been burned off by chemicals."

Keath Ladner, another seafood processor in Hancock County, Mississippi, is also very disturbed by recent findings: "I've seen the brown shrimp catch drop by two-thirds, and so far the white shrimp have been wiped out. The shrimp are immune compromised. We are finding shrimp with tumors on their heads, and are seeing this everyday," he stated to Al Jazeera.

He further stated that he had seen shrimp with gill defects and "their shells missing around their gills and head".

"We've fished here all our lives and have never seen anything like this," he added.

Ladner said that he had also seen crates of blue crabs, all of which lacked at least one of their claws.

Al Jazeera also interviewed Darla Rooks, who has been fishing all her life in Port Sulfur, Louisiana.

In the interview she stated that she is finding crabs "with holes in their shells, shells with all the points burned off so all the spikes on their shells and claws are gone, misshapen shells, and crabs that are dying from within … they are still alive, but you open them up and they smell like they've been dead for a week".

Rooks has also reported finding shrimp with abnormal growths, without eyes, and female shrimp with their babies still attached. She has also seen shrimp with oiled gills: "We also seeing eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye-sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills, and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills."

Rooks has grown up in the area, fishing with her parents, and says that she has never seen such things in these waters. She also states that the seafood catch last year was "ten per cent what it normally is".

The possible cause?

Dr Riki Ott, who is a marine biologist and toxicologist told Al Jazeera: "The dispersants used in BP's draconian experiment contain solvents, such as petroleum distillates and 2-butoxyethanol. Solvents dissolve oil, grease, and rubber. It should be no surprise that solvents are also notoriously toxic to people, something the medical community has long known".

The dispersants used are well known to be mutagenic. This alarming fact can be seen in the current seafood deformities.

With shrimp having a very short life-cycle, two or three generations have existed since the BP disaster started, giving the chemicals sufficient time to enter the genome and cause the disturbing deformities that are now being seen.

A chemist and Macarthur Fellow, Dr Wilma Subra, says she has conducted tests on sediment samples and seafood along the gulf, testing for the chemicals from toxic dispersants and BP's crude oil. She told Al Jazeera: "Tests have shown significant levels of oil pollution in oysters and crabs along the Louisiana coastline. We have also found high levels of hydrocarbons in the soil and vegetation."

Dr Cowan with the Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, quoted above, believes that chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAs), which were released from BP's submerged oil, are most likely to blame for the results he is finding. He states that the fish with lesions are from a "a wide spatial distribution that is spatially coordinated with oil from the Deepwater Horizon, both surface oil and subsurface oil. A lot of the oil that impacted Louisiana was also in subsurface plumes, and we think there is a lot of it remaining on the seafloor".

He further stated: "The fish are being exposed to PAHs, and I was able to find several references that list the same symptoms in fish after the Exxon Valdez spill, as well as other lab experiments. There was also a paper published by some LSU scientists that PAH exposure has effects on the genome."

A survey was conducted by the University of South Florida, which released findings which were very similar to Cowan's. The found a 2-5% infection rate in the same oil impact areas with red snapper and more than 20 other species of fish with lesions. In their findings, in many locations 20% of the fish had lesions and in later expeditions they found an alarming 50% of fish had the lesions.

Dr Cowan states, "I asked a NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] sampler what percentage of fish they find with sores prior to 2010, and it's one tenth of one percent. Which is what we found prior to 2010 as well. But nothing like we've seen with these secondary infections and at this high of rate since the spill."

He continued: "What we think is that it's attributable to chronic exposure to PAHs released in the process of weathering of oil on the seafloor. There's no other thing we can use to explain this phenomenon. We've never seen anything like this before."

Al Jazeera contacted BP for a response. However, they refused to comment on the issue in a television interview, but did provide a statement reading, "Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is among the most tested in the world, and, according to the FDA and NOAA, it is as safe now as it was before the accident."

BP further claims that lesions on fish are common. They state that prior to the Deepwater Horizon spill there was "documented evidence of lesions in the Gulf of Mexico caused by parasites and other agents."

They added: "As part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment, which is led by state and federal trustees, we are investigating the extent of injury to natural resources due to the accident."

"BP is funding multiple lines of scientific investigation to evaluate potential damage to fish, and these include: extensive seafood testing programs by the Gulf states; fish population monitoring conducted by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Auburn University and others; habitat and water quality monitoring by NOAA; and toxicity tests on regional species. The state and federal Trustees will complete an injury assessment and the need for environmental restoration will be determined."

 

Afro-Vietnamese Orphans

Tell Their Stories

in ‘Indochina:

Traces of a Mother’

By BFC/A

INDOCHINA TRACES OF A MOTHER

by MORA-KPAI Idrissou 

Through the story of Christophe, a 58-year-old Afro-Vietnamese man, the film reveals the little known history of African colonial soldiers enlisted to fight for the French in Indochina. Christophe was one of seven Afro-Vietnamese orphans  adopted by one of those soldiers when he returned to Benin after the war. The film explores the long lasting impact of  bringing together two populations who previously had no ties and sheds light on a frequent practice within colonial history,  that of using one colonized people to repress the independence claims of another colonized people.

A new(er) documentary film by Idrissou Mora-Kpai follows the stories of Afro-Vietnamese orphans born of Vietnamese mothers and West African fathers – tirailleurs sénégalais - brought by the French to fight la sale guerre, mostly in today’s Viet Nam.  The synopsis:

Through the story of Christophe, a 58-year-old Afro-Vietnamese man, the film reveals the little known history of African colonial soldiers enlisted to fight for the French in Indochina. Christophe was one of seven Afro-Vietnamese orphans adopted by one of those soldiers when he returned to Benin after the war. The film explores the long lasting impact of bringing together two populations who previously had no ties and sheds light on a frequent practice within colonial history, that of using one colonized people to repress the independence claims of another colonized people.

Told in Vietnam and Benin, the film gives space for the grown Afro-Vietnamese orphans to tell their stories, but also to explore the contradictions of the colonial order.

“The French sent us to fight their war for no good reason,” remarks one veteran in the trailer.  “It was their enemy, not ours.”

You can see the full trailer here.

The French use of colonized peoples as soldiers has been the subject of feature length historical fiction before – notably in Ousmane Sembene’s Camp de Thiaroye (1988) – about a group of soldiers massacred by the French after fighting for France – and Rachid Bouchareb’s Days of Glory (2006) – about Algerian men who fought the Nazis in France.  Now, a documentary lens has been brought to the phenomenon.

George Orwell, too, wrote about the tirailleurs sénégalais in his essay Marrakech.  With a tone that betrays Orwell’s own prejudices, he describes a column of Senegalese soldiers on the march, and reflects:

But there is one thought which every white man (and in this connection it doesn’t matter twopence if he calls himself a Socialist) thinks when he sees a black army marching past. “How much longer can we go on kidding these people? How long before they turn their guns in the other direction?”

Isn’t it great to see cameras turned in the other direction?

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

 

About BFC/A

 

The Black Film Center/Archive was established in 1981 as a repository of films and related materials by and about African Americans. Included are films which have substantial participation by African Americans as writers, actors, producers, directors, musicians, and consultants, as well as those which depict some aspect of black experience. The BFC/A is a facility where scholars, students and researchers can view films and have access to auxiliary research facilities on the Indiana University Bloomington campus. Black Camera, the micro-journal of the Black Film Center/Archive, serves as an academic, professional, and community resource. View all posts by BFC/A