In April of 1964, the British Broadcasting Corporation launched BBC Two as a highbrow alternative to its mainstream TV channel. One of the new channel’s first programs was Jazz 625, which spotlighted many of the greatest Jazz musicians of the day. Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans and others performed on the show, which featured straight-forward camera work and a minimalist set. The focus was on the music.
The title of the show referred to the channel’s 625-line UHF bandwidth, which offered higher resolution than the 405-line VHF transmission on BBC One. Among the surviving episodes is Thelonious Monk’s March 14, 1965 performance at the Marquee Club in London. You can watch a 35-minute excerpt above. The quartet features Monk on piano, Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums. They perform four numbers:
Straight No Chaser
Hackensack
Rhythm-A-Ning
Epistrophy
You can learn the story behind Jazz 625 by reading an article by Louis Barfe at Transdiffusion. And to see more from the shows, scroll down.
The Oscar Peterson Trio:
Above is a 25-minute excerpt from the Oscar Peterson Trio’s October 1, 1964 performance. The original show, like other episodes of Jazz 625, was over an hour long. The trio features Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums.
The Bill Evans Trio:
Above is the full one-hour, 11-minute episode with the Bill Evans Trio. It was recorded on March 19, 1965 and features Bill Evans on piano, Chuck Israel on bass and Larry Bunker on drums.
The Modern Jazz Quartet:
The Modern Jazz Quartet performed for Jazz 625 on April 28, 1964. Above is a 27-minute except, featuring the Quartet’s musical director John Lewis on piano, Milt Jackson on vibraphone, Percy Heath on bass and Connie Kay on drums. Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida makes a special appearance.
The recording of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by Abby Dobson (produced by Steve Wallace) came about in a short conversation amongst friends Gil Robertson IV and Kevin Harewood. Robertson's second book Family Affair- What It Means to Be African American Today (Agate Press) had just been released and he mentioned to Harewood that he felt music flowing like "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and wished he had a version to go with the book. Harewood just said, "I know exactly what to do" and called his friends Abby Dobson and Steve Wallace. The result is a soulfully actuating version of song often referred to as "The Black National Anthem" that seeks to become as memorable as the versions that preceded it.
Uganda Women Writers Association (FEMRITE) calls for submissions for her 4th Regional Women Writers Residence to be held in November 2012. This is an inspiring initiative that brings together upcoming African women writers. The main objectives of the residency are:
- To bring established writers to mentor upcoming African women writers
- To give upcoming Ugandan women writers the opportunity to interact with women writers from the continent
- To give African women writers conducive space and time pursue their writing projects
- To create opportunities for inter-cultural discourse among women writers
- To strengthen collaboration among women writers’ initiatives in Africa
- To generate short stories for publication in an anthology
At the end of the residence, we expect the writers to have:
1. had mentoring sessions with an established writer
2. improved at least one of their writing projects
3. enriched each other’s manuscripts through discussion
4. submitted their improved short story for the residency anthology
HOW TO APPLY Interested women are required to submit;
1. Part of a novel / short Story collection in WORD document (40 pages, typed in Times New Roman, font 12, 1.5 spacing).
2. A short story for publication in the residency anthology
3. A brief bio (not more than 10 lines)
This call is open to African women living on the continent. Writers already attached to writers groups in their countries are encouraged to apply.
Deadline for submissions is 30th April 2012
Please Note:
1. All applicants will receive notification by email once their manuscripts are received.
2. The Residency targets 15 writers
3. The Residency will last two weeks in November 2012
4. Successful applicants will be notified by 30th August 2012.
5. Successful published applicants will be kindly requested to donate copies of their works to the FEMRITE Resource Centre
6. Applicants should not have published more than one book.
7. FEMRITE will solicit support to meet costs of travel, accommodation, & meals.
Caribsave have announced research project: Scholarships and Bursaries Call For Caribbean Nationals
Study areas related to Climate Change that can be considered for these Scholarships and Bursaries are: Climatology; Geography; Geomatics; Environmental Sciences; Coastal Management; Water Resources; Sustainable Tourism; Gender Studies
The CARIBSAVE Partnership, the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Waterloo (UW), Canada, have announced a joint research project entitled:
Partnership for Canada-Caribbean Community Climate Change Adaptation (ParCA)*
Students’ scholarships and bursaries will focus on ParCA; a project that will conduct comparative case study research in Tobago, Jamaica and two Atlantic Canadian provinces. The project will use a community-based vulnerability assessment (CBVA) framework in collaboration with coastal communities and local partners to identify vulnerabilities and exposures, and develop strategies for adaptation to climate change. Under this programme, funding is available for Caribbean Nationals to study at the University of the West Indies or the University of Waterloo at Masters and PhD levels.
ELIGIBILITY for Scholarships and Bursaries
Must be a Caribbean National.
Must have successfully completed an undergraduate or graduate degree at a high level in an area relevant to Climate Change including Climatology; Geography, Geomatics, Environmental Sciences, Coastal Management, Water Resources, Sustainable Tourism, Gender Studies.
Must have been accepted and registered in a Masters or PhD Programme at UWI or UW
(Please note: this does not preclude you from applying for a scholarship or bursary, acceptance and registration can occur post application)
Evidence of professional experience in any of the fields indicated above will be an asset.
Applicants for Scholarships and Bursaries will be assessed by a Selection Committee established by the University of the West Indies, the University of Waterloo and The CARIBSAVE Partnership.
HOW TO APPLY: Applications should be sent via email to: The Office of Research, The University of the West Indies: pvcresearch@cavehill.uwi.edu and must be copied to The CARIBSAVE Partnership: hr@caribsave.org When applying please include ‘ParCA’ as Subject in the email.
The following should be included in your Application: a current Curriculum Vitae; a covering letter including qualifications, professional experience, preferred study location (a named UWI Campus or Waterloo), your area of interest for graduate studies and full contact details for three Referees. Closing date for this round of applications is 19 March 2012.
To be eligible for a scholarship under the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes you must meet the following criteria:
You are a a national of one of the following 60 countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
You are not applying for more than one course with the same NFP application deadline
You are not employed by a multinational corporation, a UN organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, a bilateral or multinational donor organisation, or a large national and/or commercial organisation
You have not already received two NFP fellowships for short courses in the past
You have not already received an NFP fellowship for a short courses in the year prior to this fellowship application
Course aim
The Broadcast Journalism course is designed to strengthen the capacity of broadcast journalists to research and report for broadcast and new media in an effective and ethical way on issues to do with good governance.
Who`s it for
Mid-career broadcast journalists with at least three years experience in the field of broadcast news and current affairs.
Expected learning outcomes
Upon completing the course, the participants will be familiar with:
the role and responsibility of the broadcast journalist in covering issues of good governance
preparing, researching, and carrying out broadcast and multimedia journalism assignments on topics to do with diversity
writing, presenting and reporting stories for radio and television
the impact of new and social media and their relevance to the practice of broadcast and multimedia journalism
writing, researching and producing for the internet using text, photos, audio and video
working in a multimedia newsroom, generating story ideas and content for broadcast and new media
Course outline
The course will deepen understanding of issues to do with good governance and of the role of the broadcast journalist in covering them. It will reinforce the journalistic and teamwork skills required to prepare, research, and carry out broadcast and multimedia journalism assignments on topics to do with good governance, using digital recording and editing equipment and the internet both as a resource and as a publishing medium. Theoretical and practical work will focus on writing and reporting stories for broadcast news and current affairs as well as for the internet using text, photos, audio and video. Practical exercises and assignments will be analysed and evaluated in group feedback sessions. For their final assignments the participants will work in a multimedia newsroom generating story ideas and content for broadcast and internet.
Admission requirements
Applicants must meet the following admissions requirements:
You are currently working as a broadcast journalist and have a minimum of three years experience in or for broadcast media
You have successfully followed secondary education, and professional education or training in media
You are used to working with computers and have good computer skills
Your speaking and writing skills in English (the course language) are sufficient
You must submit a letter of motivation in English (150-250 words) explaining why you want to follow the course
English language proficiency
Since English is the working language of the course, proficiency in English is an absolute necessity. Successful candidates will have a level of proficiency in English equivalent to scores of 550 (paper based) or 213 (computer based) for TOEFL and 6 for IELTS. If you are in doubt about whether you are sufficiently proficient in English please contact RNTC at info@rntc.nl.
After submitting a motivation letter, a phone/Skype interview will be conducted with shortlisted applicants to assess the level of understanding of spoken English and discuss expectations for the course.
Fellowships
Applicants may apply for the full 12-week course or for either the first 6 weeks (focus on broadcast journalism) or the second 6 weeks of the course (focus on multimedia journalism).
If you are looking for a fellowship to sponsor your study at RNTC then you must take a number of steps. RNTC will assist you in making it possible. More information on fellowships can be found here.
For any questions, please contact us at info@rntc.nl.
Director Prathibha Parmar's new film about the life and work of Alice Walker entitled Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth will be shown at the BFI on Thursday 29 March. Priority bookings open on the 1 March to members of the BFI. Booking information and everyone else after that. The still unfinished film is being shown as part of the BFI London Lesbian and Gay film festival. After the screening Pratibha will be interviewed about her work. This looks like it will be incredibly popular you are going to have to be quick to get a space.
I studied Russian and Politics and worked as a researcher at United Nations before turning to the politics of representation in African art. I did an MA in African Art History at the School of Oriental and African Studies with Professor John Picton, writing my thesis on contemporary Ghanaian art.
After graduating, I worked with African arts publisher Revue Noire in Paris and curated my first exhibition, One, a multidisciplinary exhibition of contemporary Ghanaian art, including work by artists El Anatsui and Owusu Ankomah, designers Selassie Tetevie and Araba Hackman, and musician Panji Anoff at the Liverpool Biennial.
I worked as Associate Co-ordinator of Africa 05 at the British Museum with Dr. Augustus Casely-Hayford, where I coordinated London-wide exhibitions and events of contemporary African arts, including at the National Portrait Gallery, Hayward Gallery, South London Gallery, Camden Arts Centre, BFI, Victoria and Albert Museum, and many others.
In 2005, I curated a number of exhibitions and events, including Healers, with Zwelethu Methetwa, Tracey Rose, Abdoulaye Konate, Loulou Cherinet, Cyprien Tokoudagba and Gera, at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; The Word and Afrofuturism with Kodwo Eshun, Keziah Jones, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Shaheera Asante and Jessica Edwards, at athe Southbank Centre and consulted on Fashion in Motion Africa with Xuly Bet, Joel Andrianmearisoa and Hassan Hajjaj at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
I was awarded an AHRC award to do a PhD on Ayan or Drum Poetry as a philosophical, aesthetic and analytical tool and have presented my research at the Universities of Legon, London, Oxford and Cambridge.
In 2006, I curated Living History, a photography exhibition with Nii Obodai, Thomas Fynn and Samuel Atta at the British Council in Accra.
In 2007, I curated the first Uk exhibition of Ghanaian photographer James Barnor at the Black Cultural Archives and am currently working on a book of his work.
I have written on contemporary African cultures and their trajectories for numerous publications, including The National Geographic, The Statesman, The Dubliner, Arise and Frieze, as well as on programmes like This is My Africa for HBO and Shoot The Messenger for Vox Africa.
After doing the authorised translation of Chris Marker and Alain Resnais' film on African Art, Les Statues Meurent Aussi, I made my first short film, CrossOver, which was shown at festivals, like RAI and the Milan African film festival and nominated for various awards. I made my second short film, A Shred of Identity, last year.
For all the attention devoted to Mitt Romney’s tax returns last month, one element went largely unnoticed: They directly refute the Republican candidate’s argument that higher tax rates deter capital investment.
Simply put, all of the investments made by Bain Capital LLC, the private-equity company Romney cofounded in 1984 and ran until 1999, occurred when capital-gains rates were much higher than they are today. Yet Bain consistently attracted massive amounts of private capital, and thrived.
Bain’s haul is further evidence that fair tax rates don’t hold back profit-seeking capitalists, at least until those rates reach a point that no one is proposing. From 1984 until 1999, the top rates on capital gains -- the profit from investments as opposed to compensation for work -- were often at 28 percent, and never lower than 20 percent. Indeed, in 1987, under President Ronald Reagan, the 20 percent rate rose to 28 percent -- a 40 percent increase in potential taxation of Bain investment profit. (Yes, Reagan did raise taxes, even on capital.)
An analysis by the Wall Street Journal of 77 Bain deals in that time period showed that the firm “produced about $2.5 billion in gains for its investors,” on about $1.1 billion invested. Clearly, even with capital-gains rates almost double those today, fund managers such as Romney didn’t lack investors.
No Deterrent
Others can debate whether the private-equity crucible created more jobs than it destroyed. One thing is certain, though: Investors signing up for a chance to earn, say, a gross $10 million profit on a deal weren’t deterred by the prospect that taxes meant they would only keep a net $7.2 million.
Potential taxes were certainly disclosed to investors, and figured into the expected rate of return. And individual investors might have had offsets, such as the carried-forward losses from other deals reflected in the Romney tax return.
Particularly remarkable is the windfall Romney received from steep reductions in the capital-gains rate that took place after most of the deals he oversaw had closed. In 1997, the rate was cut to 20 percent, from 28 percent. It was reduced to the current 15 percent in 2003.
No one investing in a private-equity deal in 1990 could possibly say they anticipated the rate would be only 15 percent on profit still being paid out in 2010. Applying the reduced rate to deals previously closed couldn’t possibly be viewed as an incentive to investors.
At the same time, because these rate cuts were applied retroactively, the Romney family enjoyed a windfall of about $600,000 each year in lower taxes paid (assuming the Romneys received the same $12 million in income from carried interest and other capital-gains returns since 2001 as they did in 2010).
When multiplied by thousands of similarly situated taxpayers, this after-the-fact tax-cut windfall contributed significantly to the budget deficit, even though its value to the economy remains dubious, as numerous analysts of capital- gains rate cuts have concluded.
At a time of ballooning federal deficits and frayed social safety nets, higher capital-gains rates can contribute meaningfully to deficit reduction and to helping a middle class that is struggling to stay afloat, without hampering good investments in American businesses.
The Romney tax returns vividly illustrate that fair tax rates don’t deter those whom Republicans now routinely call “job creators” from investing.
As Warren Buffett so aptly put it, “I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone -- not even when capital-gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 -- shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain.”
Conservative commentators will continue to recite their credo that letting the lower Bush-era tax cuts on capital gains expire -- and returning to the pre-2001 percent rate of 20 percent -- would kill investment and jobs. It will be hard for them to ignore the window provided by Romney’s returns into the real world of private-equity investing and the economy.
(David M. Abromowitz is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The opinions expressed are his own.)
Rihanna and Chris Brown in the audience during the 2008 MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre on June 1, 2008 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Chris Polk/FilmMagic)
Apryl Cornell was only 15 years old when her boyfriend began abusing her.
"At first everything was good. He was two years older than me and attended my school," she recalls. "[But] about four months into the relationship, he started telling me who I could hang out with and what I could wear."
Cornell says her boyfriend forbade her to wear certain clothes, like shorts, in public. She could only wear them in his presence.
And, to avoid more conflict, she stopped spending time with her friends.
"It was too hard to hang out with them and deal with my boyfriend," Cornell says.
The abuse soon escalated to physical assaults. During one episode, Cornell's boyfriend struck her in the head so hard, she blacked out. During another, he tried forcing her to have sex against her will.
"Topless, I ran out of the room to the middle of the staircase that led to where the rest of the family was sleeping," Cornell says, "Soon, he came out and talked to me. He said he was sorry. He said he loved me."
She adds, "I was kind of scared, but I made him promise not to hurt me. I was worried that no one would believe me if I told."
Cornell's experience is, unfortunately, not unique.
One out of 11 high school students in the United States have experienced some form of physical violence from a boyfriend or girlfriend, with African-American youth experiencing this abuse at a higher rate.
In fact, the CDC's Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance Study reported that black high-school girls are 80 percent more likely than white girls to be hit, slapped or hurt on purpose by their boyfriends.
It is thought that these abusive relationships mirror behaviors witnessed at home.
"Things like education, income, access to resources, and social disadvantage are also strongly linked to violence," says Laura J. Hogan, co-director of Start Strong, an 11-site program promoting healthy teen dating.
The biggest problem lies, Hogan says, in teenagers' lack of life experience.
"Teenagers don't have years and years of dating experience to draw from," she says. "They are learning as they go, learning from the role models they have around them, and figuring things out along the way."
Teens are more likely to react to conflicts with aggression or violence in order to 'save face' in front of their friends, according to Hogan.
"They're also less likely to challenge abusive behaviors if these are considered normal by their peers," she says.
Taking it Seriously
When reports of the alleged reconciliation between Chris Brown and Rihanna hit prime-time, critics challenged the example it set for the artists' young fans. Yet, Hogan says it creates a teachable moment.
"We can't always control the messages that young people hear and see about relationships in popular culture, or how they react to them, but what we can do is use these incidents... to have conversations with our youth about preventing teen dating violence in their life," Hogan says.
Cornell, now 19, works through Start Strong Wichita to counter media images condoning dating violence by using her own experiences as a cautionary tale.
"Young people do not believe that dating violence can happen to them," Cornell says.
To her point, during the Grammys, several young women tweeted comments about Chris Brown that some argued made light of the seriousness of domestic violence.
One tweet read, "He can beat me up all night if he wants."
Another read, "chris brown could beat me all he wants, he is flawless."
And, another: "Dude, Chris brown can punch me in the face as much as [he] wants to, just as long as he kisses it."
Getting out
Cornell, however, lived the seriousness of dating violence for two years before she finally left the relationship.
It took a coincidence -- her participation in a play during junior year, called "The Outrage" -- to help her see what was happening.
"I was assigned the role of the girl who was being abused," she recalls. "My abusive boyfriend was in the audience along with my family. When it was over, my mom came up to me and said, 'You played that way too well.'"
It was her play director who pointed out the hypocrisy of being in a play aiming to prevent teen dating violence while she stayed in her unhealthy relationship. So, Cornell made a choice.
"At first he was mad, but he did leave me alone," she says. "I started to go back to him several times, but I never did."
"The more [Cornell] learned about what healthy relationships should be like and how to set healthy boundaries, the more she knew that she had to free herself from her boyfriend," says Hogan.
WATCH A PSA FROM START STRONG'S INDIANAPOLIS SITE
Each Start Strong site gears its interventions toward middle school students -- ages 11 to 14 -- in an effort to mentor them prior to entering the dating world.
"We are working with families, friends and the community so that everyone is helping to spread the message that violence and abuse in a relationship is never acceptable," says Cornell, who works with the Start Strong Wichita program.
According to the CDC, teen dating violence can lead to poor school performance, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control adds increased risk of teen pregnancy, risky sexual behaviors, and unhealthy weight control to that list.
"Rather than trying to repair the damage of dating violence and abuse later in life, [with Start Strong] we are teaching middle school students the skills to have healthy relationships so we can ultimately prevent the violence before it starts," Hogan explains.
Horrifying Secrets of Germany’s Earliest Holocaust
*This should be taught in school
When you hear of Death Camps and Genocide, Nazi Germany and world war two come to mind. But Germany had practiced it’s murderous craft over sixty years before WWll. Before the Armenian Genocide, before the Jewish Genocide over 150,000 Herero and Nama peoples of modern-day Namibia were murdered by the order of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany between 1904 and 1909.
Along the coastline of Namibia runs the Namib desert, a 1,200 mile long strip of unwelcoming sand dunes and barren rock. Behind it is the central mountain plateau, and east of that the Kalahari desert. Namibia’s scarcest commodity is water: this is a country of little rainfall, and the rivers don’t always run.
But the very sand of the Skeleton Coast is the dust of gemstones; uranium, tin and tungsten can be mined in the central Namib, and copper in the north; and in the south there are diamonds. Namibia also has gold, silver, lithium, and natural gas.
For most of the region’s history, only metal was of interest to the native tribes. These tribes lived and traded together more or less peacefully, each with their own particular way of living, wherever the land was fertile enough. The San were nomads, hunters and gatherers. The Damara hunted and worked copper. The Ovambo grew crops in the north, where there was more rain, but also worked in metal. The Nama and the Herero were livestock farmers, and they were the two main tribes in the 1840s when the Germans (first missionaries, then settlers, then soldiers) began arriving in South West Africa.
Before the Germans, only a few Europeans had visited it: explorers, traders and sailors. They opened up trade outlets for ivory and cattle; they also brought in firearms, with which they traded for Namib treasures. Later, big guns and European military systems were introduced. The tribes now settled their disputes with lethal violence: corruption of a peaceful culture was under way.
During The Berlin Conference Germany was awarded what is now called Namibia and settlers moved in, followed by a military governor who knew little about running a colony and nothing at all about Africa. Major Theodor Leutwein began by playing off the Nama and Herero tribes against each other. More and more white settlers arrived, pushing tribesmen off their cattle-grazing lands with bribes and unreliable deals. The Namib’s diamonds were discovered, attracting yet more incomers with a lust for wealth. Tribal cattle-farmers had other problems, too: a cattle-virus epidemic in the late 1890s killed much of their livestock.The colonists offered the Herero aid on credit. As a result the farmers amassed large debts, and when they couldn’t pay them off the colonists simply seized what cattle were left.
