The Florida Review is pleased to announce the guidelines for the 2012 Editors' Awards in fiction, essay, and poetry. For more information, write flreview@ucf.edu or call 407-823-5329.
Judge: The Florida Review Editors
Deadline: March 17, 2012
Prizes
First Place winner in each genre: Publication and $1000
One finalist in each genre: Publication
Guidelines
For prose, submit up to 30 pages (double-spaced word doc or pdf)
For poetry, submit up to 5 poems (word doc or pdf)
This is a blind-read contest. The manuscript should have only the title(s) – not the writer's name or other identifying information on any page
Submit a cover sheet that includes the manuscript title(s) and the writer's name, email address, phone number, and mailing address
Entry fee of $15 includes a one-year subscription to The Florida Review
All submissions will be considered for publication
Simultaneous submissions are fine if withdrawn immediately upon acceptance elsewhere
Submissions accepted until midnight on March 17, 2012
ComPeung (คำเปิง), combining the two words com(a remark) and peung(appropriate), derives from Northern Thai Lanna language. Our vision and mission for ComPeung are to create those appropriate remarks, suitable to the situations, environments, and communities we deal with. Since July 2005 and with the support of the residing artists, the creative community, our friends and families, the idea of ComPeung has become a lived reality. The ComPeung team, Pisithpong Siraphisut & Helen Michaelsen, aspires to live up to the truest sense of the meaning of ComPeung.
ComPeung is located in Doi Saket, Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand. Despite just being 20 km northeast of the city of Chiang Mai, Doi Saket has escaped the tourism trap so far. Due to its position Doi Saket is also the gateway to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle. With diverse local and ethnic communities traditional northern everyday culture is still very much alive in Doi Saket.
ComPeung is the first non-government artist-in-residence programme in Thailand. Our residency program is designed for local, international artists, and creative individuals to live and work together with the ComPeung Team and the local communities through the process of creating artworks, developing conceptual projects as well as participating in workshops and other ComPeung activities.
Deadline: 31 May 2012
Due to our continuous support by our generous private donor, we are able to continue the ComPeung Grant program and are very pleased to advertise the ComPeung Grant 2012!
We are calling for applications for 2 one month ComPeung AiR grants for 2012.
Eligibility & Conditions:
Individual artists as well as artist duos are eligible to apply. Artist groups (max. 3 people) can also apply but we won't be able to fully fund the travel expenses for the whole group.
At the end of the grant residency we expect the grant beneficiaries to present their outcomes in form of a public presentation/lecture.
The period for the 2 residencies is fixed and scheduled for October 2012, which is not negotiable.
Each of the 2 grants covers:
Air ticket to/from artist's home country
Transportation to/from Chiang Mai International Airport
Small artist fee
Accommodation/studio
3 home-cooked meals per day
Interested artists are to apply online only by providing:
ComPeung Grant Application Form (.pdf / .doc)
Proposition of work or project to be undertaken during the grant residency, which can be
part of a current work-in-progress or a new body of work.
Artist statement clearly stating the objectives for applying for this particular residency.
Curriculum Vitae (2 pages A4)
Max 10 images of the work
Links to sound, video/animation work and/or artist websites
*All documents are to be merged into a single pdf/doc file (not exceeding 5 MB).
Disciplines & Media (open list)
· Visual Arts, Media, Architecture, Performing Arts, Literature, Music
Due to our continuous support by our generous private donor, we are able to continue the ComPeung Grant program and are very pleased to advertise the ComPeung Grant 2012!
We are calling for applications for 2 one month ComPeung AiR grants for 2012.
Eligibility & Conditions:
Individual artists as well as artist duos are eligible to apply. Artist groups (max. 3 people) can also apply but we won't be able to fully fund the travel expenses for the whole group.
At the end of the grant residency we expect the grant beneficiaries to present their outcomes in form of a public presentation/lecture.
The period for the 2 residencies is fixed and scheduled for October 2012, which is not negotiable.
Each of the 2 grants covers:
Air ticket to/from artist's home country
Transportation to/from Chiang Mai International Airport
Small artist fee
Accommodation/studio
3 home-cooked meals per day
Interested artists are to apply online only by providing:
ComPeung Grant Application Form (.pdf / .doc)
Proposition of work or project to be undertaken during the grant residency, which can be
part of a current work-in-progress or a new body of work.
Artist statement clearly stating the objectives for applying for this particular residency.
Curriculum Vitae (2 pages A4)
Max 10 images of the work
Links to sound, video/animation work and/or artist websites
*All documents are to be merged into a single pdf/doc file (not exceeding 5 MB).
Disciplines & Media (open list)
· Visual Arts, Media, Architecture, Performing Arts, Literature, Music
The Campbell Corner Poetry Contest announces its fourteenth Annual Poetry Prize. Poems that treat larger themes with lyric intensity are especially welcomed by the judges.
The Campbell Corner Poetry Contest offers a prize of $3,000. Winners are invited to give a public reading, and their poems will be published on the Campbell Corner website.
To enter the poetry competition, submit poems to:
Campbell Corner Poetry Contest Sarah Lawrence College 1 Mead Way Bronxville, NY 10708-5999
All entries for Campbell Corner’s fourteenth Annual Poetry Prize must be postmarked by March 15, 2012. Omit author’s name on manuscript and include a cover sheet with name, address, phone, and e-mail.
Entrants must submit three printed copies of their submission. Maximum length for submissions is 20 pages total.
The entry fee is $25; checks should be made payable to Sarah Lawrence College.
Previously published work is accepted, but when and where published should be noted on the cover sheet.
The stage right before the festival officially began [Image courtesy of Brenda Wambui]
"African Music under African Skies". That's the tagline for Sauti za Busara, the annual music festival that takes place in Zanzibar at the Old Fort; the just-completed 9th edition ran from Wednesday 8th to Sunday 12th February. The aim of the festival is to promote East African music, in all its wealth and diversity, and judging from the array of artistes we saw over the three days I'd say it succeeded. (For anyone unfamiliar with this part of East Africa, Zanzibar is a Tanzanian island group 25 - 50km off the mainland coast).
Performances, however, are only one half of the equation. The other half has to do with the audience, the intended and the actual. Every festival wants to ensure the two are made up of exactly the same people. But at Sauti za Busara I found this wasn't entirely so. There is a difference between what the international (white) audience wants and what the local (African) audience wants, and the issue seems to go beyond music to touch on differing expectations and perceptions of Africa.
The diversity of acts at Sauti za Busari is one of its key attractions. This is where you can see artists like Nneka and Tumi & the Volume, artists familiar to This Is Africa visitors. But it's also where you will see more "traditional" artists like Mkota Spirit Dancers and Ogoya Nengo. This diversity is an attraction, a tool, but also part of the problem mentioned above.
First, I’ll about the performances, then about the audience gap and the consequences of the imbalance in its diverse offering, issues the festival's organizers will need to address if the festival is to remain relevant to its primary audience. If you’re only interested in the “issues”, scroll down to “Who is this festival for?”
SAUTI ZA BUSARA: “SOUNDS OF WISDOM” Wednesday was mainly a sort of ‘welcome to Zanzibar’ day, with a tour of Stone Town (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and the chance to see some last-minute rehearsals.
The Old Fort, Stone Town
The actual festival began on Thursday with a carnival parade following a 2-kilometre route from the Kisonge grounds to the Old Fort, the pride of Stone Town.
The carnival parade included traditional singers, dancers and acrobats, and the music was energising. Got everyone in the mood for the stage performances to come.
The Carnival Parade [Image courtesy of Masoud Khamis]
Not just any performer who happens to be available is allowed to perform here. We were to see 31 acts over the course of three days, but this was from the 560 acts who’d applied and been vetted by the committee. According to festival director, Yusuf Mahmoud, and assistant director, Rosie Carter, it is extremely important that the music at Sauti za Busara remains relevant and true to the local culture, with half of the artistes coming from Tanzania, three-quarters from East Africa and the rest from wider Africa.
Carnival Street parade arrives [Image courtesy of Masoud Khamis]
Sauti za Busara directly translates to “Sounds of Wisdom”, so the selected acts had to be politically conscious with a relevant message, be of interest to the local population and have created original music of high quality. Gender balance is also taken into consideration, as well as the age balance. The organizers strive to maintain this balance every year.
The mix of artistes on the Thursday especially went down well with the Zanzibari crowd. It featured Swahili Vibes, a group that fuses Zanzibari and Western sounds using acoustic instruments like the oud and bongo drums as well as guitars and other electric instruments.
Kozman Ti Dalon [Image courtesy of Masoud Khamis]
We also saw Shirikisho Sanaa, a traditional dance group; Tandaa Traditional Group, whose music is defined by the sound of the tandaa, a traditional flute, and Wanafunzi wa SOS, comprised of a group of children from the local SOS Children’s Village whose sound is a mix of traditional and roots music.
Just in case you’re wondering why you’ve never heard of most of these artists, rest assured you’ll find the answer when we get to the ‘Who’s this festival for?’ section.
The Camirata Group [Image courtesy of Masoud Khamis]
The Mkota Spirit Dancers, a traditional dance troupe from Pemba, and the most energetic one that day, followed. Their performance was an eye-opener, to say the least. It included a possession dance known as kumbwaya, which features chanting, drumming and horn blowing. And at one point during the performance, one of the members bit off the head of a chicken. I looked away, and when I looked back the chicken was gone, thankfully. The night ended with a performance from Ary Morais, an artiste from Cape Verde based in Norway, and his band. His music was mellow and soothing, a good close to the first night.
On the days that followed we were treated to an eclectic mix of artistes from both within and outside of Tanzania. On Friday, we had Hanitra, a singer and guitarist from Madagascar – her style is acoustic with touches of Caribbean influence, her sound relaxing; legendary folk artiste Ogoya Nengo, from Kenya; Kozman Ti Dalon from Reunion Islands came on with their energetic maloya style of music, which could easily be mistaken for a rugby chant; Super Mazembe a popular soukous band from DR Congo that’s based in Kenya; and the highlight of the night, originally from Congo but based in Brussels, Fredy Massamba and his amazing band, with a blend of soul and funk that got everyone dancing.
The local artistes included Tausi Women’s Taarab, featuring the legendary Bi Kidude with a blend of taarab and kidumbak, and the Utamaduni JKU traditional dance group whose performance featured several dance styles from across Tanzania.
The weekend is where the magic really happened. More people came in for the festival, seeing as the work week was over, and the crowds were fuller and more energetic. The atmosphere was simply fantastic. The group Skuli ya Kiongoni, made up of children from a local school, opened Saturday evening’s performances with traditional song and dance, and Juhudi Taarab, the other group from Pemba, followed. Others included the Tunaweza Band from Tanzania, an inspirational group made up of people with various disabilities; Ndere Troupe from Uganda, a 27-year-old traditional dance group; Jembe Cultural Group, also a traditional dance group, but based in Dar es Salaam; The Camirata Group, a traditional music group from Sudan, with an amazing, hypnotic sound.
And then came the Saturday performance everyone had been waiting for: Nneka.
Nneka [Image courtesy of Pernille Baerendtsen]
Her performance was energetic and full of passion, and the crowd totally ate up her blend of hip-hop, soul, rock and afrobeat. She really engaged the crowd, talking about the inspiration for her songs and her feelings about vices like corruption.
The night ended with a faceoff between two mchiriku groups (Mchiriku is a traditional style of music indigenous to Tanzania), Jagwa Music and Seven Survivor, and the undoubted winner was Jagwa Music.
Nneka full house [Image courtesy of Peter Stanley]
Sunday, understandably, had fewer performers, it being the last day of the festival. Nonetheless, the performances were superb. Qwela, an Afro-fusion band from Uganda, was the day’s first act, and their style was reminiscent of the current musical revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa where fusion between various styles of music has become very popular. Other performers were Leo Mkanyia from Tanzania, with his blend of Jazz and acoustic music; Lumumba Theatre Group from Tanzania, who performed a very well choreographed mix of song and dance; Chebli Msaidie from Comoros, with a blend of rumba and Comorian taarab; Kidumbaki JKU, another taarab and kidumbak group from Tanzania, and what was undoubtedly the best performance of the festival: Tumi and The Volume.
I haven’t seem many rappers captivate and engage the crowd the way Tumi and his band did, with him encouraging the crowd to sing along to the hooks of the songs they performed, and the crowd gladly obliging. The lyrics were conscious and inspiring, and the music had groove, and people just couldn’t stop themselves from bobbing their heads, waving their hands and jumping the whole time. There was a mix of exhilaration and sadness when their performance ended.
The final performance was by FM Academia, a Tanzanian rumba band with their ngwasuma dance style, ending the festival on a high note.
WHO IS THIS FESTIVAL FOR? With this exciting mix of artistes and the amazing performances, the festival gaining wider international appeal. However, it’s also losing its appeal to locals, which is ironic because the local audience is the primary reason the festival was set up for in the first place, and each year the organisers find themselves having to fight harder and harder to attract this audience.
So what’s going on? One reason for the mismatch between the primary and actual audience is that young people in Zanzibar, as in the rest of Africa, find listening to traditional music like mchiriku “uncool”, and in extreme cases, backward. They would like to see the more popular artistes, the “hits of the moment”, perform, but one of the reasons the festival exists is to promote Swahili music to a generation of Tanzanians raised on Western Top 40 hits. In other words, good but non-commercial music of the sort you don’t normally hear on radio because is isn’t deemed “radio-friendly” or sufficiently catchy. Which is why you will not have heard of most of these groups (it doesn't help matters that most of them are yet to embrace the possibilities of the internet, let alone social media). These groups aren’t “crowd pullers”, but their music is, after all, also a part of our culture. And if you don’t find ways to expose youngsters to their culture, even if it’s not something they’d automatically rush to see, you’re not actually doing them any favours in the long term.
Thus it’s a delicate balancing act between “traditional” fare and some modern African music to “sweeten the pill” as it were. Speaking to some of the residents of Stone Town though, I found that they are tired of seeing the same groups at Sauti za Busara, such as Jagwa Music, and as a result don’t see any reason to return each year. Which means that even with acts like Nneka, Fredy Massamba, Ary Morais, and Tumi and the volume, and in previous years X-Plastaz and Fid-Q, the organisers probably need to tinker with the balance a bit more.
Tumi and The Volume [Image courtesy of Masoud Khamis]
To attract local audiences the organisers arranged free dala-dalas (share taxis) for residents after performances ended at 1am each day, and free entry before 5.30pm. And even after 5.30pm locals were only charged a $2 entry fee while foreigners are charged $26. Despite all this, the annual increase in visitors from outside Tanzania is exponential, with only slight increases in local attendants. You walked through the crowd and met people from all over Europe and America, and from other parts of Africa, but not enough from Tanzania.
Traditional African music seems to fit tourists’ idea of Africa and what African music should be like, so it is not entirely surprising that Sauti za Busara, with the best of intentions, appeals more to tourists. But what many refer to as “World Music” simply cuts it a lot less with youngsters in Zanzibar. You could even see it in the way the different audiences responded to such performances, with many of the Zanzibaris staring at the stage while performances were going on but hardly moving at all, in stark contrast to many of the tourists who danced until they could hardly move.
These factors combined lead Zanzibaris to think the festival is for really tourists. It doesn’t help that the festival is held in Stone Town, which is inaccessible to most residents, hence the free dala-dalas.
Busara Festival Organizers [Image courtesy of Stephanie Tinga-Baron Wilson]
Still, the festival is treasured by Zanzibaris as well as tourists. Zanzibar comes alive during Sauti za Busara. There is a 400% increase in tourism in February, and local businesses benefit directly from the influx of people. The food market at Forodhani Park has many more customers, as do the taxis, shops, hotels and dhow owners. The atmosphere is one of excitement and possibility. As a Frenchman called Antoine told me, rather excitedly, “Where else would I go and meet a Kenyan, an American and a Dutchman all in one night, within minutes of each other? I have to attend Sauti za Busara next year!”
In the hot glove of a sticky East African night, the last act of the annual Sauti za Busara festival takes place. ‘Local’ outfit FM Academia – with over twenty members in the band – are rocking the open-air venue (an old walled fort in the centre of Zanzibar Town) with their unique ‘muziki da dansa’ rumbastyle, when, suddenly, on stage come literally dozens of the festival’s crew. The now over-crowded hugely enthusiastic stage dances out the last number of the 2012 event. Mark Stewart reports…
Yes, the ninth festival so far has been the biggest ever, and is clearly losing none of its joy.
The moment sums up this friendly festival. The support workers see themselves as integral to the festival – this is not just about the music, it’s about the vibe, the commitment, almost the mission.
And that commitment is vital, for there are rumblings of, if not disquiet, then at least concern, about just what the future of their festival should be.
Billed as ‘African Music Under African Skies’, Busara reflects the feelings and ambitions of its founder and artistic director, Yusuf Mahmoud. The English-raised music enthusiast travels the world as a dee-jay and promoter of African music. Speaking to journalists as the festival began, his desire is clearly as strong as it was ever – which is to give the continent’s music its proper showcase.
There’s little doubt he’s succeeded. The festival now is one of very few that the world-music magazine,Songlines, organises reader-trips for. The organisational side is now as good as anything in Europe.
Nightime audience at Sauti za Busara
Yet, its very success has hemmed in some of the choices. There’s a desire to bring in a local audience, so pricing structures are lop-sided, and security more lax than it might be. To please locals, half the bands (there were over thirty acts in all across the four nights) are Tanzanian.
The international visitors though want more familiar fare, so fusion music – that which incorporates European rhythms – is also featured, using African acts which are often from thousands of miles away. The international visitors make up the bulk of ticket revenue.
And what of the purists? They demand from this festival the obscure, virtually unheard sounds of deep Africa. Mahmoud spoke proudly in this context of securing the Camirata Group, a little-known but skilful Sudanese outfit, but their traditional sound bemused the local audience and puzzled the internationals. It says much for the open-mindedness of this audience that they decided to cheer Camirata on nevertheless.
In many ways, the biggest hit of the four days, Nneka, summed up the contradictions. This Nigerian-raised singer is clearly being groomed for global super-stardom. Now based in Germany, and singing and speaking in English, Nneka really does deserve stardom – she has the passion of a Sinead O’Connor, and the stadium sassiness of a Bono. A capacity crowd of 5000 jammed into the old fort’s space, and went wild. But… her music is not ‘African’, laced as it is with the sound of American-rock and guitar solos, and while purporting to speak for her generation, one wondered how much her eyes were on America.
In other words, is she really part of the Busara’s mission?
It’s a tough one for Mahmoud. He is disturbed by the imbalance of numbers: the proportion of European & American visitors is clearly rising to unwanted levels – despite the pricing structure that favours locals.
He spoke with sadness of the fact that the major donors, who provide fifty per cent of the funding, feature not one African organisation. The major sponsors in fact are all based in Scandinavia. The main sponsor, the Norwegian government, signed a major agreement in Tanzania just months before Busara 2012.
Sauti za Busara, as it looks ahead to its tenth version in 2013, is clearly at a crossroads. Mahmoud talks vaguely but firmly of moving it out of Zanzibar Town, where he says the size of the venue is restricting expansion. Finance is a big issue too; already the festival is down to four days from last year’s five. Certainly, if he moved the festival, that would bring in more sponsorship, as he could concentrate on attracting more internationals, whom sponsorship would follow. What’s more, he could lose some of the ‘local’ bands which, frankly, were of poor musicianship, albeit popular.
And he could more easily satisfy the purists (among whom he counts himself).
Of course, the downside is obvious. Mahmoud has stressed in the past how much it should be a marriage of festival and locality, but by moving out of Zanzibar Town – to, say, an out-of-town football stadium – the intimate side of the festival could be lost.
One of the most marvellous moments in the festival was one of the fringe events, when a small band of visitors (yes, purists!) were led though the dark and mysterious back-lanes of the town to witness a Sufi group in action in their own rehearsal rooms. That kind of intimate occasion only works, surely, when town and festival are one.
And to see a hip-hop act like the South African Tumi singing of Africa’s troubles surely only works properly in a ‘town’ atmosphere.
But to end with my best moment. It’s 4pm on the Friday, and the unremitting sun is blazing down on the stage; it’s probably around 35 degrees there. The small audience, for this is the first act of the day, is huddled into what shade there is. A diminutive figure appears on the platform, with just a guitarist for support. Hanitra, from Madagascar, had said she would take any spot in the billing under any conditions, just so she can say she appeared at Busara.
With a soulfulness that belies the situation, she sings with emotional moodiness in an Afro-Latin style. She is a revelation: no bottom-of-the bill artist at all.
The fact that she simply wanted to be here, under these conditions, says much; and, as Mahmoud thinks about the festival’s future, it will hearten him to know that he carries that kind of huge good-will with him.
This 1996 documentary takes a nostalgic ride through history to present the experiences of Black sleeping-car porters who worked on Canada's railways from the early 1900s through the 1960s. There was a strong sense of pride among these men and they were well-respected by their community. Yet, harsh working conditions prevented them from being promoted to other railway jobs until finally, in 1955, porter Lee Williams took his fight to the union. Claiming discrimination under the Canada Fair Employment Act, the Blacks won their right to work in other areas. Interviews, archival footage and the music of noted jazz musician Joe Sealy (whose father was a porter) combine to portray a fascinating history that might otherwise have been forgotten.
Fatima Hussain, who left Mogadishu, Kenya and finally Mexico before coming to the United States. (Photo by Tasbeeh Herwees)
Fatima Hussain is petite.
She’s not much taller than five feet and a few inches. Her neck, long and thin, makes up for most of it. Her collarbone juts out from above her black v-neck sweater. She’s wearing children’s pants -- donated to her -- that fit snugly.
She uses words sparingly and carefully, not because she doesn’t know much English (she does) but because she doesn’t see fit to use more.
But her presence is large. Her gaze is forceful and her eyes tell you the stories her words don’t capture. Disappointment colors her words when she talks about her new life in California.
“It’s going to be all right,” she says. She doesn’t sound convinced. “The way I see it, you don’t bother nobody gonna bother you.”
Hussain is homeless and unemployed. For several weeks this fall she lived in an encampment outside of Los Angeles City Hall. She’s not quite sure what they were protesting, but she preferred her tent at Occupy L.A. to living in homeless shelters.
“They don’t have jobs either,” she explains. “This country is so crazy,” she shakes her head, half-amused as she watches the protesters dance across the City Hall steps.
Originally from Somalia, Hussain fled Mogadishu in 1991 after her husband was killed in the brutal civil war that began that same year. She left two children with her mother and headed for Kenya.
“We were taken to a refugee camp,” she remembers, “It was really dangerous because the Kenyan police used to rape women.
She lived in Nairobi for 15 years, working as a maid for the Kenyan family who paid her way to Mexico when living in Kenya became unbearable for her.
“The Kenyan police constantly harass Somali people,” she says, “Every time the Kenyan police will arrest you, you have to pay them to get out, because you’re not a legal citizen. You buy your own freedom.”
Hussain arrived in the states only six months ago, smuggled through the Texan border. She applied for political asylum when she arrived and immediately booked a plane ticket to Los Angeles.
“I didn’t like to stay in Texas, I thought there were opportunities in California, you know?” she says. “I was told, there are a lot of people here [in California], they work illegally, I was excited. I thought I could get cleaning jobs or do something.”
She’s had no such luck. Uncomfortable in the homeless shelters, where she had to sleep on the floor and wake up at 6 a.m. every morning, finding Occupy LA was somewhat of a relief. The encampment provided her with used clothes and a relatively regular meal schedule. She even had a small basket of books inside one of her tents.
“I love to read,” she says. A Harry Potter book stuck out prominently from the basket. Though she’s had schooling in accounting, Hussain would be grateful for any job that came her way. She’s optimistic about the future.
“It’s just a matter of time” she says, “I know I will be okay. I can get my own apartment, I can get a job, I’m very excited but I’m just going through a situation. Once I get my permit, I know I will be happy.”
Russell Means has lived a life like few others in this century - revered for his selfless accomplishments and remarkable bravery. He was born into a society and guided by way of life that gently denies the self in order to promote the survival and betterment of family and community. His culture is driven by tradition, which at once links the past to the present.
The L.A. Times has called him the most famous American Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. His indomitable sense of pride and leadership has become embedded in our national character. Today, his path has brought him to Hollywood, thus enabling him to use different means to communicate his vital truths. Through the power of media, his vision is to create peaceful and positive images celebrating the magic and mystery of his American Indian heritage. In contemplating the fundamental issues about the world in which we live, he is committed to educating all people about our most crucial battle - the preservation of the earth.
Thirty years ago, reflecting the consciousness of the sixties, he captured national attention when he led the 71-day armed takeover on the sacred grounds of Wounded Knee, a tiny hamlet in the heart of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation. Means joined "The Longest Walk" in 1978 to protest a new tide of anti-Indian legislation including the forced sterilization of Indian women. Following the walk, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution saying that national policy was to protect the rights of Indians, "to believe, express and exercise their traditional religions, including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites."
Today, with the same passionate determination, he has directed his energy towards the entertainment industry. In a record period of time, this famed political activist and early leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) has become immersed in all five corners of the business, with projects including: Lead roles in major feature films, (The Last of the Mohicans, Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, as a chief in John Candy's comedy Wagons East and as the ghost of Jim Thorpe in Wind Runner); Disney's third highest ever selling video (Pocahantas) in which he was the voice of Pocahontas' father, a television documentary for HBO (Paha Sapa), (Indian Father and Son) a pilot he created; Two albums of protest music with lyrics he wrote (Electric Warrior and The Radical). On the technological side, he stars in a CD-ROM (Under A Killing Moon) and has created his own website www.russellmeans.com. The website features information regarding the A.I.M. club, his recordings via the American Indian Music Company, his art, book, current events, biography and upcoming appearances and direct e-mail to Russell. Born on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1939, Russell Means is the eldest son of Hank Means, an Oglala Sioux, and Theodora (Feather) Means, a full-blooded Yankton Sioux. Shortly after the outbreak of WWII, his family moved to California, where he graduated from San Leandro High in 1958 and continued his formal education at Oakland City College and Arizona State.
Russell's commitment to uplift the plight of his people escalated when he served as director of Cleveland's American Indian Center. It was there he met Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, and embarked upon a relationship that would rocket them both into national prominence. During this period, Russell staged numerous events designed to bring dignity to the American Indian. His most famous act of defiance, however, occurred at Wounded Knee on February 27, 1973. Responding to the numerous murders perpetrated by puppet tribal governments and the extreme conditions of oppression, the takeover at Wounded Knee revisited the sight of the American Indian massacre at the hands of U.S. soldiers in 1890. Ever vigilant for his cause, Russell has been lauded by the international community for his tireless efforts.
Russell splits his time between San Jose, NM, his ranch on the Pine Ridge Sioux Indian reservation, Porcupine, SD and his office in Santa Monica, CA. He takes pride in having instituted programs for the betterment of his people: notable, the Porcupine Health Clinic (the only non government funded clinic in Indian Country) and KILI radio, the first Indian owned radio station. Today, one of his principle goals is the establishment of a "Total Immersion School", which is based on a concept created by the Maori people of New Zealand, where children are immersed in the language, culture, science, music and storytelling of their own people. Russell will adapt this total immersion concept to the Indian way of life and philosophy which is taught from a perspective that will nurture a new generation of proud children educated in the context of their own heritage.
Russell Means has devoted his life to eliminating racism of any kind, and in so doing he leaves a historical imprint as the most revolutionary Indian leader of the late twentieth century. An inspirational visionary, Russell Means remains one of the most magnetic voices in America today. Whether leading a protest, fighting for constitutional rights, starring in a motion picture, or performing his "rap-ajo" music, the message he delvers is consistent with the philosophy he lives by, which states:
The Universe which controls all life, has a female and male balance that is prevalent throughout our Sacred Grandmother, the Earth.
This balance has to be acknowledged and become the determining factor in all of one's decisions, be they spiritual, social, healthful, educational or economical.
Once the balance has become an integral part of one's life, all planning, research, direct action and follow-up becomes a matter of course. The goals that were targeted become a reality on a consistent basis. Good things happen to good People; remember time is on your side.
In September of 1864, as the American Civil War approached its conclusion, a slave-turned-soldier named Spotswood Rice wrote the following furious letter to his former owner, Katherine Diggs, and sternly warned her that she would soon be seeing him again — he was returning to Missouri, together with a thousand-strong army of black soldiers, to rescue his still-enslaved children. His anger is almost palpable.
Indeed, Spotswood Rice was reunited with his family some months later, although it's unknown whether a showdown with Diggs occurred. Interestingly, Mary, the daughter mentioned in the letter, was interviewed as part of the Federal Writers' Project in 1937.
Transcript follows.
(Source: National Archives, via Jeremy Higgins — click on the images below for larger versions; Image above, of Company E, 4th United States Colored Infantry in 1864, via Wikipedia.)
Transcript
September 3, 1864
Spotswood Rice to Kittey Diggs
I received a leteter from Cariline telling me that you say I tried to steal to plunder my child away from you now I want you to understand that mary is my Child and she is a God given rite of my own and you may hold on to hear as long as you can but I want you to remembor this one thing that the longor you keep my Child from me the longor you will have to burn in hell and the qwicer youll get their for we are now makeing up a bout one thoughsand blacke troops to Come up tharough and wont to come through Glasgow and when we come wo be to Copperhood rabbels and to the Slaveholding rebbels for we dont expect to leave them there root near branch but we thinke how ever that we that have Children in the hands of you devels we will trie your vertues the day that we enter Glasgow I want you to understand kittey diggs that where ever you and I meets we are enmays to each orthere I offered once to pay you forty dollers for my own Child but I am glad now that you did not accept it Just hold on now as long as you can and the worse it will be for you you never in you life befor I came down hear did you give Children any thing not eny thing whatever not even a dollers worth of expencs now you call my children your pro[per]ty not so with me my Children is my own and I expect to get them and when I get ready to come after mary I will have bout a powrer and autherity to bring hear away and to exacute vengencens on them that holds my Child you will then know how to talke to me I will assure that and you will know how to talk rite too I want you now to just hold on to hear if you want to iff your conchosence tells thats the road go that road and what it will brig you to kittey diggs I have no fears about geting mary out of your hands this whole Government gives chear to me and you cannot help your self
Narrative Begins:The subject of this sketch is Mary A. Bell, 85 years old, living in a 4-room frame cottage at 1321 Argus Street, St. Louis County, Missouri...
